Journey's End
by Streetwyse
Summary: (Author's Note-Please Read) When she left, Magnolia never knew that it could result in her own end. Or is it a beginning she never dreamed of? Please R
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: I don't own TMNT, so you can't sue me. I'm just borrowing them for a bit. But Magnolia and the others are mine, so if you want to use them, please just ask. Thank you.  
  
A/N: I started this fic a year ago and managed to get a few chapters out before I lost interest for awhile. But now, I've decided to give it a major rewrite so that it's actually something worth reading. This means a major project for me and it might mean that it will take me longer to post my other stuff. But please bear with me, as I'm trying to juggle both my fics and my personal life at the moment.  
  
Journey's End?  
By Streetwyse  
  
Prologue: Unforgiven  
  
Magnolia. My name is Magnolia. It was the name that was given to me by my adopted father, a being who now seems only a distant memory but remains a constant source of comfort in this dismal hell that I've brought myself too. It's been more than two years since I last saw him or the others, but I think of them often. Not only to keep their memory alive in my heart, but to keep myself sane.  
  
It probably sounds strange to others when I say that, but it's true. Where I've been, sanity is a precious thing and very few have it anymore. I sometimes count myself among those lucky few, since I can see the truth behind all the lies we're told and know that the only one I can trust here is myself.  
  
At other times though, I feel as if I've been cursed. While I can see behind the veil of lies Krang and his government spread and can defend myself against them, I still have to see horrors that should have driven me mad years ago. I see the weak and starving being fed upon by the strong, even those in their right mind. I've seen these same poor infidels beaten until they were within an inch of their lives and then, while still alive and breathing, fed to the 'watchdogs' that keep us all under control when the overseers are away.  
  
These are enough that I should have been driven mad when I was first brought to this world. Yet, they haven't. For reasons I've never been sure of, regardless of what I see and experience, my mind remains whole in a place where so many others have lost theirs.  
  
Not that that does me much good now. My mind is as clear as it ever was, albeit filled with intense pain at the moment, but my body is shattered. I've spent the last couple of days being beaten by some of the overseers. They said it was for helping the others escape, but I know better. They've been wanting a piece of me ever since I got here and now they just have an excuse to ruin an able slave without fear of reprisal from their commander.  
  
Slave. Ha, that's something I never thought I would call myself. Despite the fact that I've been one for more than a year now. The capture was my own fault of course, since I had broken the first rule of survival here and stopped out in the open to rest. They caught me then, and brought me here, to the Dimension X version of Earth's Alkatraz.  
  
And when I say the version, I mean that lightly. Beyond being a prison, there's no real comparison between here and the one on Earth. At least on Earth you have a chance of going free at some point if your crime's not too serious and they don't work you till you're almost dead. Here in Dimension X, unless you swear complete loyalty to the supreme Warlord, Krang, and are willing to give your life for his so-called glorious empire, once you're in a penal colony like Rancor and its brethren, it's for life and you spend every waking hour working. The only way sure to get out of here is death and here that's never clean.  
  
Which is what is happening to me now; I'm dying. After I was brought to them, the overseers spent a few days beating me, trying to get me to confess my crime or tell where the others had gone. They got neither. It's true that I had helped Unai and three others escape, but I wasn't about to say that, no matter how much satisfaction it would have given me. To let these bastards know that it was possible for someone to escape their little prison. Nor did I know where they had gone and even if I had, I would never have told. If there's one thing that I'm proud of, it's that I can keep a secret. It was a skill that served me well as a child and one that I've kept alive since.  
  
Hmm, secrets. That was something I often shared with my brothers when we were young. It was really one of the few things that we had in abundance to share in those days, considering what we were and where we lived.  
  
You see, I never really came from what most folks would consider a normal family. Oh, I had a father of course. A good one in most respects, even if he could be a bit strict at times. And I had four brothers as well, all of them older. They each had their faults and their graces, both of which I loved and disliked about them, as any younger sister would.  
I had no mother though, not one that I could remember, and neither did my brothers. We were orphans almost from birth until we were found and taken in by our father, who as I mentioned before was my both my adopted father and my brothers'. He raised us alone in the darkness of the sewers.  
  
That's right, the sewers. Our home was in the gutter, literally. It was a dank and gloomy place that probably doesn't seem like the right setting for anyone to raise a family. Well, before our choice of real estate is judged too harshly, there was a good reason why my father chose it.  
  
As I said, my family was never normal by most standards. It was a parent and his children, true enough. That was basic enough for anyone to understand and what made us so like the human families that lived above our heads. But you see, that's where the similarities between our family and others ended. For you see, none of us were human. We were mutants, beings created through an accidental exposure to a substance that became known to us as ooze.  
  
My father and brothers had been exposed to it several years before I was even born. Before that, they had all been pets to a Japanese man named Yoshi and an American boy that was never named and were then lost in the sewers. It was there, in the same place that would become home, haven and prison to us all, that they came in contact with the same stuff that would effect our lives forever.  
  
The ooze caused them to change and grow. They became smarter, stronger, and more human-like than they should have been under normal circumstances. Though the occurrence of the change itself was never normal, but still.  
  
Once the change had taken its course, they were more aware of their world than they had been in their original forms. The most aware being my father, who was the eldest of the new clan of mutants. He was the one that decided what had to be done for what was to become his new family and that led him to keep them all hidden in the sewers so they could at least live their lives in freedom.  
  
And that was how things went for the next three years, with my father taking care of his family and the ones who had become his children growing and learning about the world. It was also about this time that I showed up on the scene. That happened in the sewers too, but not like before. When I was found, no one was sure what I was. They said that I was a mutant like they were, but no one was exactly sure what I had been before or how I how into contact with more ooze, since there was none there with me.  
  
It didn't really matter I suppose. I ended up thinking I was a mutant anyhow, since that's what the rest of my family was. I was just like they were, or so I thought. It wasn't until I ran away and ended up in this nightmare that I learned what I was and sometimes I would rather think that I was mutant than be what I.Ah, that one hurt.  
  
Well, the pain's kicking in again. Guess that slow-minded moron Vynde and his slobs know how to do something right after all. You wouldn't think that a bunch of pinheads like them could keep someone hurting as long as they've kept me.  
  
Come to think of it, I haven't seen any of them for awhile now. They usually don't keep me waiting this long. They're usually here by now, ready to tear into me again.  
  
Hmm. Maybe they decided that I'm not worth it anymore. I never cry out when they hit me, no matter how hard, or, when they.No, I won't say that or even think of it. That's something that will stayed buried until I can deal with it. For now, I'll just say that another skill I picked up as a kid has kicked in. I've always been able to keep silent when I want and now is one of those times.  
  
If that's the case, then I don't have to worry about them coming back for awhile. They'll probably just leave me here until I'm totally unconscious to come back. Then they'll either dump me or turn me into feed. Neither is a pleasant thought, but at this point, I really don't care. All I want is to sleep and be done with all this. And it looks like I'll be getting my wish sooner than I thought.  
  
It's getting harder for me to think clearly now. The pain hasn't really grown, but it feels like it's getting worse and I can't keep my thoughts straight anymore. Oh, well, I guess that's for the best. I've been dwelling on the past long enough. I have my regrets and my joys, like anyone does. They will stay with me always, even when I'm dead, and if I have to deal with them in whatever comes after this life, then so be it. I'm prepared for that.  
  
But if I could have a chance to do anything in the world before I die, it would be to say something to my father and brothers. Something that I should have said to them a long time ago but was too stupid to realize it. If I could, I would tell them that I'm sorry. Sorry for all the grief and trouble that I caused them, even when I'm not there.  
  
But I suppose like my living much longer, that's a dream that will never come to be. I've been here long enough and I've searched every possible lead that could get me home and each one was a bust. So I'll just have to settle with saying it in my heart and hope that maybe someday, the ones I called my family and friends will realize that. Though, somehow, part of me still doubts that they.even.care.  
  
A/N: End prologue. I guess this doesn't really make sense to everyone right now, but believe me, give it a few more chapters and it will. But thanks for reading and if anyone has the time, please review. Feedback will definitely help me in later chapters. Thanks. 


	2. Where am I?

Disclaimer: I don't own TMNT. I just own Magnolia and my other originals.  
  
(This is a short chapter, more like an interlude I guess. There'll be more later. Promise)  
  
Chapter 1: Where am I?  
  
Surprising as it seems, I'm not dead yet and by all rights I should be. When Vynde and his goons got a hold of me, they were very careful in what they did to me. I'm certain that they must have broken every bone in my body and when that was done, they must have shattered things that I didn't even know that I had. That and the blood loss that I suffered before I passed out should have been enough to finish me off if starvation hadn't, since I hadn't eaten in nearly a week after I was caught.  
  
Strangely though, it doesn't feel like I'm dead. I don't know what death is like and I never really thought about it before, but I've heard enough stories about near-death experiences to get a general idea of what most people see. They say that there's supposed to be a tunnel of bright light that has either an angel or a demon waiting to take you where you belong.  
  
At the moment, I see none of this. In fact, I see nothing. There's nothing here but darkness. So unless death is just a big load of nothing, I don't think that I'm dead. But I don't think that I'm not alive either.  
  
Now that's something that I can understand. When you're alive, you're supposed to be able to move around and feel something, even when you're asleep. At the moment, I can't do either. So that leaves me guessing that I'm neither dead nor alive, and that I'm stuck somewhere in-between the two.  
  
Which leaves me wondering, what am the heck am I supposed to do now? Am I supposed to just wait around here in the dark waiting for something to happen, just stay here forever or is there something that I need to do to get out of here? If the latter is the case, then what am I supposed to do? I wish there were someone around to tell me what's going on, because I certainly don't know anymore. 


	3. Regrets and Memories

Disclaimer: I don't own TMNT, so you can't sue me. I'm just borrowing them for a bit. But Magnolia and the others are mine, so if you want to use them, please just ask. Thank you.  
  
  
  
Chapter 2: Regrets and Memories  
  
Well, I'm still here, wherever here is. Or rather, I think that my consciousness is still. I have the feeling that I left body back on the floor of my cell when I blacked out. Hmm, what do you know? That's the first real feeling that I've had since I got to this dump. It's harder than I thought to do anything when you don't have a body to move around in. Not there's much to do here but think even if I still were in mine, but still. It's the principle of the idea that I'm getting at.  
  
For reason, I really don't feel the passage of time as I did when I knew that I was alive. Here in the darkness, things just sort of stand still. Like there's no reason to hurry things and there's a force that keeps them at a single moment forever. So I really don't know how long I've been drifting here, if that's what you can call it. It could have been weeks, days, hours, even an eternity for all I know since my body finally gave up and I ended up in this place, which I still don't know how to get out of even there is one.  
  
Despite all this confusion and nothingness that I'm stuck in, there is one thing that I'm certain of: I'm bored. Weird as it sounds, I am bored to tears. Well, not really but that's beside the point. All I can really do here is think and I got my fill of that when I used to spend my afternoons meditating with the guys and Splinter.  
  
Splinter. Hmm, there's a name that I would remember no matter where I was. I haven't thought of it much the last few months, but it was one of the first things I learned when I was old enough to starting getting the gist of verbal language.  
  
It is or maybe was the name of the one that I saw as father, teacher and friend for my entire life. Well, there was that period when I was fourteen when I considered him to be something else. It's the feelings of that time that's gotten me into this mess and I don't think I'll really ever stop regretting those times. But, I think I'll worry more about that later. At this rate, I'll probably have more than enough time for that. Right now, since I've already gotten myself thinking about the old guy, I'll just stick to the good memories of Splinter.  
  
Wonder how many of those I could count or even if I could manage? Probably never could, since there are too many to ever count and be sure of to begin with. I just know that there were a lot of good things about being with Splinter and what they've come to mean to me is something I would never trade, even to get out of being in the dark like this.  
  
Yes, despite the times he was strict with me and didn't seem to understand me no matter how he tried and failed, he meant that much to me. Both him and my brothers. It was Splinter who took me in, gave me my name after I was found and raised me to be the person that I am, much good that it's done me. Thanks to him, I know what it means to be a decent person and that fighting isn't the only way to fight an injustice. Though if you have to, then give it everything you can. Strike hard and disappear, that was the lesson that he taught us all from the moment we could walk.  
  
We? That's definitely a term that I haven't used in a long time. For the last two years, the only things that I've used are me and maybe us. Never a we. That in my mind means a group of people that you can trust, no matter what you do. Me just means watching out for myself and us is just a group that's been stuck together and doesn't have a choice in the matter, like in Rancor.  
  
When I do think of we, I think not only of Splinter but of my brothers too. They're what makes of we in my mind. There were six of us; Splinter, my four brothers and me.  
  
I suppose I thought of this before, but if it'll help to pass the time, then who cares? My brothers were all older than me by three years. This gap in our ages often separated us when we were growing up, since they, like all older children, felt that it wasn't the place of smaller youngsters to tag along and slow the rest down. Younger children were meant to stay at home and out of the way while the rest had the fun. A philosophy that I didn't and I'm sure that all younger siblings will never agree with.  
  
That was often an attitude that all my brothers had from time to time and I always hated when they pulled that on me. Still, there were times when I couldn't have asked for better playmates and friends. On the days when I was upset or when I hurt myself when we were playing, they were always there for me. They would comfort me and try to help me feel better until we could get Splinter to look at the problem.  
  
They were each different as anyone could ask for and I had a different relationship with each one, just like they did with each other. My oldest brother was named Leonardo and was possibly the closest thing you would ever come to having a Splinter clone without the use of DNA. Leonardo, or Leo as the rest of us called him, he was always the first one to try and please Master Splinter, regardless of what it meant doing. He spent more time practicing and meditating than the rest of us combined sometimes and never once disagreed with our Sensei.  
  
This sort of thing earned Leo a place of honor from Splinter, so that often left him in charge when our Sensei. That was something Leo took pride in and took as seriously as he did everything else. It also earned him resentment from the rest of us. It annoyed us to no end when he tried to boss around and make us do things the way he thought we should, but none more than Raphael.  
  
He was what I guess you could call the second born son of the family, but I'm not really sure. I don't think anyone does really, even Splinter. Even with all their different personalities and sizes, no one's ever been really sure who was born or rather hatched first among the Turtles. So it was based more on actions and personality that came to who was older among the Turtles and in that case, Raphael was second.  
  
Not that he enjoyed having to listen to Leo; any fool could see that. In fact he hated it when anyone told him what to do. Anyone but Splinter who tried was bound to find themselves beaten into a senseless pulp.  
  
That sort of action came from Raphael's fierce temper. He always had one, practically from the day he was mutated. Maybe even before then. Splinter, the only one who had any clear memory of that day, used to tell us stories of what happened then. He would say that whenever someone got in his way, then Raphael would lash out or try to fight them. It usually took Splinter himself to calm Raph down again when that happened. I'm not sure if that's an exaggeration or not, but I know for a fact that Raphael did fight a lot when we were growing up.  
  
When we were kids, it was mostly with Leo, who was the one always bossing us around, and sometimes my other two brothers, Don and Mikey. He and I never really came close to having a fight until much later in our lives, since the one bit of chivalry Raphael seemed to have prevented him from beating up on a girl and someone smaller than him. At least, not in a fist fight. He saved that for when I was allowed to spar with the rest of them.  
  
I was never as big and strong as he was back then, so I never came close to beating him. Heck, I never came close to beating any of them when it came to sparring when I was younger. I was always smaller and weaker than my brothers as a kid, no matter what I tried.  
  
That sort of played in my favor when it came to other parts of ninjitsu, the type of martial art that we were taught by Splinter. Where I failed to beat my brothers in sparring and strength, I could almost always beat them in stealth and strategy. I've always been good at moving around unheard when I want to, and making plans of attack. Leo was pretty good at planning too, but I could still outdo him when it came the finer details, just like I did the others three.  
  
The real genius of the family though, was Donatello, my third brother. Next to me, he was the quiet one. He was the one who would spend hours on end just looking at what the rest of us thought was a piece of junk, trying to figure it out. Sometimes, he got so enthralled with a problem that he would literally ignore everything and everyone else around him, it was so interesting to him. The only way to even catch his attention was to get right up in his face, between him and the object he studied so intently. I can remember more than once that's what Splinter had to do, just to get him to move around and eat.  
  
Eating, now that reminds me of only one person or should I say Turtle. My fourth brother and the person that I was closest to in the world, Michelangelo. Now there is a person that could not only out eat anyone, but also get even the grumpiest person, and when I say that I mean Raph of course, in the world to laugh. In my opinion, he was the sweetheart of our family and probably the one that kept us all from killing each other when we were stuck in the Lair all those times.  
  
It was also Mikey who actually saved my life and brought me to Splinter's attention. Yes, hard as it is to believe, it's true. I don't remember exactly what happened myself, but I've been told enough times by Splinter to know what happened that day. He and my brothers had been out scavenging in the sewers for supplies, or rather Sensei was doing that. My brothers, only three at the time, were too busy playing to be of much help.  
  
Now, in one of those rare times when Splinter wasn't watching him, Mikey wandered away from the others. He went deeper into the sewers, toddling along without any concern for the panic that Splinter was bound to be in once he found one of his sons gone. Well, Mikey hadn't really wandered that far but it was enough for him to find me.  
  
I was lying in the muck of the sewer, wrapped in a dirty old blanket and squalling like there was no tomorrow. Which would have been true if things hadn't gone the way they had. See, being as young and confined from the world as he was, Mikey had never seen anything like me before. So naturally he became interested and wanted to know more about me.  
  
To this day, no one knows how he did it but somehow, Mike fished me out of the gunk I was stuck in and dragged me over to a corner under one of the pipelines. Splinter used to say many times that he was surprised that neither of us got hurt from that experience.  
  
Once he had me, he tried keeping me in his lap, but it wasn't that easy since my blanket was pretty gross at the time and I probably squirming like crazy. Even so, he somehow managed and he stayed with me until Splinter finally showed up looking for him.  
  
And that's more or less how I initially joined what would become my family. If Mikey hadn't wandered off and found me, I would probably have been dead long before this. Which means that next to Splinter, I mostly owe Michelangelo for my getting as far as I did in life.  
  
In the end though, I owe something to each of them. To Splinter, who was both my father and my teacher, I owe the code of honor that I've tried to live by. Not completely, since there are a few things about that that I find strange, but for the most part, I try. Leonardo, who offered a guiding hand and patience when I had a problem.  
  
Raphael, the one who taught me how to fight in ways that didn't involve going by the book and how to show others that size doesn't always matter. And a few other things that I don't think that I'll mention about now. Don, the patience one who helped me understand reading and science better when no one else could or would. And Mikey, the one who was my best friend and comrade growing up and in everything else.  
  
The more I think about these people, the ones who made up my life before I left them, the more I regret what I did to them. They deserved better for what they did for me, better than my just walking out on them like I did, without even giving them a decent farewell. Now that's what I regret most, not saying good-bye. If I had, maybe I wouldn't have ended up here. They could have been there to stop me and talk some sense into me before I did something stupid. But of course, I was stupid!  
  
I was fourteen, what else was to be expected of me? I was stupid, arrogant and too hotheaded to know when it was better to let others help me instead of pushing them away like I did. I thought that I knew better than they did, and that I didn't need them, especially when they wouldn't give me the answers that I wanted. Well, I certainly went my own way and look where it got me. Stuck in a bunch of nothing that could be hell for all I know or just someone's idea of a cosmic joke.  
  
Well, like everyone says when they end up like this, if I had known beforehand what would happen, then I wouldn't have done it. I would have used my head and done the opposite. Of course, by then it's always too late and there's no way to turn back the clock to fix it. What's done is done and when it is, all you can do is take what remains as it is.  
  
But that doesn't mean I can't work with what I have. I may have made some mistakes in the past but there's always the chance of making what comes after them better again. And even if this darkness is a punishment that I've earned and should probably keep to, I would take the chance if I could to get out of here if it meant doing just that. Making things right again with my family.  
  
In the darkness, I hear someone chuckle. For the first time since I got here, I'm actually startled. I still don't know how long I've been here, but I've been around long enough to know that I was the only one here. At least, I thought I was.  
  
"You are not alone, child," a voice says, sounding remarkably like Splinter's," You never were. We just didn't want to disturb you until you were ready for us to come to you."  
  
Whoa, hold it! There are actually others here besides me in this place? I don't see anyone, but I'm starting to sense something that wasn't there before. Great, so I'm not alone after all. So why haven't they shown up before this?! That's what I want to ask and a lot more, but basically can't since I don't have a mouth and somehow I doubt that I would get a straight answer even if I could. If whoever is speaking to me sounds that much like Master Splinter, then they're bound to make things as difficult to figure out as he did sometimes. And probably get a kick out of it like I swear he did sometimes.  
  
Again that voice chuckles gently," There is no need for you to speak, child. We can hear your thoughts as well as you hear us now. If you wish for us to know anything, then you need only think it and we will hear it."  
  
All right, if you, they or whoever is there can hear me so well, then let's see you answer this. What is this place, who are you and what do you mean by not disturbing me until I was ready?  
  
"Ah, you truly are worthy of your spirit," the voice laughs," So many questions at once, just as we expected of you. I'm sorry to say that I cannot answer your second question. Know only that I and the others with me mean you no harm. We are friends and are here only to help you when you are ready."  
  
And just what were you were waiting for me to be ready for? I'm sorry to be rude, but I'm really not in the mood for riddles anymore. I just finished solving enough of my own inner ones to last an eternity. Though that's probably passed by now.  
  
"Indeed you have, child. That is the reason why you were here, though it has not been an eternity," that voice replied, more like Master Splinter with each word," You are here because your spirit was in torment and needed a chance to sort itself out. Now that you have done so, you are ready to return."  
  
Huh? My spirit's in torment? That's something new. I thought that all went to my body, since it more or less got beaten a pulp before I came here. And just what does this…being mean by returning?  
  
"What your body felt was only the physical pain of your wounds, Magnolia. That is a far cry from the torment of the spirit, of your soul, which is always greater than the pains afflicted upon the mortal shell," the voice said gently," Yours was in particular torment, because it has been through so much in so short a time."  
  
Is this guy serious? In so short a time? I've been feeling bad for years now, not a short time. I don't know what dictionary this being is using but I think he better find a new one. Short is something like days, not years.  
  
"What is long to you is short to us, Magnolia. There is a difference, as there are among many things that you have yet to understand," my companion said sharply.  
  
I decided that it was better not to answer about now. I knew that tone all too well for my taste. Master Splinter always got it when one of us had disobeyed him and he was about to punish the offender.  
  
"For the moment, that is wise, Magnolia. Now is not the time for you to talk, it is time for you to listen," the voice said, more gently than before," As I said, you are here because your soul temporarily slipped from its shell and is now here for healing for the regret it feels toward your family. Though you do not know it, that regret has been eating at your spirit since you left your home and has continued to grow into the darkness that surrounds you now."  
  
WHAT!? If I had been able to talk, I'm certain that would have been heard for miles. As it was, it just went as far as me and my invisible companion.  
  
"Yes. This darkness, this nothingness that you have spent your time in is of your own creation. It is the regret that consumed you and would have continued to do so had you not been willing to seek the forgiveness of those you hurt. When you did that, and accepted what you had done, the darkness stopped growing and is receding even as I speak," the voice chuckled," Soon, it will be gone and you will be free to leave here. To return to the world you left behind. Farewell child, and remember what you have learned here."  
  
Then it's gone. All of it. Whoever was here with me leaves before I can say anything. I'm alone in the darkness, no, alone in my regret again. I want to ask more, but I never have the chance. Just as I never have the chance to recognize the light before it consumes me and everything goes blank all over again. 


	4. Return, but to where?

Disclaimer: I don't own TMNT, so you can't sue me. I'm just borrowing them for a bit. But Magnolia and the others are mine, so if you want to use them, please just ask. Thank you.  
  
  
  
Chapter 3: Return, but to where?  
  
When I regained my senses somewhat, it felt like someone had thrust me headfirst underwater and I had just managed to bring myself to the surface again. I had to take several short, gasping breaths for the next few minutes that helped to wear down the shock a bit. I was still in darkness, but not the total nothingness that had the voice had claimed to be my regret. No, it was the kind of darkness that came from having your eyes closed.  
  
With that kind, if there's a light somewhere nearby, then it shines in dim reflection through your eyelids. Not enough to wake you up, but just enough to let you know that it's there. At the moment, that was the kind that I was sensing and I can't tell begin to express the relief that I was feeling. I guess being in total darkness really can take more out of a person than I thought it could.  
  
Relief can only go so far however, and for the moment, it was just restricted to only a small portion of my brain. The rest of me felt terrible. Surprisingly, it wasn't as bad as I had felt the last time I was awake, but it was bad enough to make me ache all over.  
  
The part of me that remained strangely aloof from the pain and partial relief thought it was weird being back in a body again. For what I was now supposing was a long time, I hadn't been able to move. All I could do was think, and as much as freedom as that can offer, it isn't the same thing as moving around in your own flesh.  
  
But being back in my own body wasn't really as cracked up as I thought it would be. For one thing, the pain, though surprisingly lessened from what I last remembered, still made me feel as if I had been run over several times. And each time I tried to move anything, even my eyelids, a new wave of discomfort would wash over me with renewed intensity. So I was more or less stuck where I was, able to feel and sense things but unable to do much else but think.  
  
Hmm, as if I hadn't had enough of that already? True, my experience had allowed me to sort out how I felt and what I had done all those years ago. It had also allowed me to find forgiveness not only within myself but the courage to seek out that of others. I know that I've said that I hope they forgive me someday, but there's a difference between saying and doing. One I hadn't seen until now.  
  
In some ways, I'm surprised that I never realized that before. Maybe I was just so wrapped in trying to survive that I buried it in a place that I couldn't find or I just never wanted to let go of my self-pity. Or maybe I'm just going crazy and the whole thing was a fever dream.  
  
I'm beginning to think it was all just that, a fever dream. An extremely weird and crazy fever dream, but still just a fever dream. One that was probably brought on by my pain and played out on the same note. If that were the case, then it would certainly explain why that voice sounded so much like Splinter and knew my name.  
  
I don't think I'll ever know for sure. It's too confusing to really think about that much, especially now. My head still hurts from waking and the rest of my body isn't too far behind. Maybe I'll give it another go when these things go away, if they do.  
  
Which brings me to another question: where in the world am I? The last thing that I can remember clearly before I blacked out was being in one of the cells at Rancor. I had been lying on the floor, still sort of dazed from my last beating and everything was continually getting hazy.  
  
Icy coldness came to mind too. I think that came from the stone floor I was lying on and the lack of other warm bodies to help gather heat. Which makes me realize that here, I'm not cold. I'm…warm?  
  
Hmm, that's strange. I don't think that should be happening, unless someone put me near a furnace while I was out. No, that's not it. Even though I can't move without getting an intense backlash, I'm still able to sense things or least starting to again. It's just the experience of doing such things is coming back to me very slowly, so I hadn't noticed before.  
  
But now that I think about it, there is something covering me. It's not swamp gunk or trash. It feels more like, cloth, torn and beaten but still cloth. It doesn't feel like the warmest thing I've known, but it beats just having my own fur for warmth.  
  
I think that I'll take this as a good sign, since it means I'm probably not in my cell anymore. If I were, I'd still be lying on a cold slab of rock turning into what Raph once termed as a fur-cicle. Which is certainly another event that I'll never forget.  
  
I had just turned seven and my brothers were about ten. It was winter and Splinter had taken above ground at night for short period of time so that we could see the snow. It was amazing, seeing something so pure and untouched, and fun to play in too.  
  
We were having the time of our lives, even if we didn't get to stay as long as we wanted. That was for two reasons. One, because my brothers, being Turtles and thus cold-blooded, couldn't stand the cold for very long and had to be back inside where it was warm so they could function. And two, even in the dead of winter, there was always the chance of being spotted and Splinter wasn't about to take any chances.  
  
Before we went home however, Raphael and Michelangelo played a trick on me that had me mad at them for days. We were throwing snowballs at each other and when I wasn't looking, the two had come up behind me and started dumping loads of snow on me. I yowled so loud that I swear half of New York must have heard me and probably over in Jersey too. It certainly gave Raph and Mikey a laugh, and Leo and Don once they saw me.  
  
Needless to say, I was both freezing and furious with what my brothers had done. And I still say that it was lucky for them that Splinter came when he did. If he hadn't, I would have been short two brothers and had myself a new pair of scratching posts instead.  
  
Well, to make a long story short, I soon caught a cold after that little stunt and had to spend a week in bed recuperating. During that time, I was grouchy and miserable, hissing at anyone but Master Splinter if they came near me. The only thing that made me feel better was that Raph and Mikey had to spend that same week and the following one doing my chores, plus apologizing to me for their trick.  
  
Yeah, it's funny now that I think back on it after all this time. Then it didn't seem so great, but I guess that when you've been around awhile, your perspective can change. But, I think I'll consider more on that later. That and figuring out where the heck I am and how I hot here, wherever that is. Right now, I suddenly feel really tired. I think, I'll just doze for awhile and hopefully without any more weird dreams. When I wake up, maybe this will make more sense. 


	5. Truth and Annoyances

Disclaimer: I don't own TMNT, so you can't sue me. I'm just borrowing them for a bit. But Magnolia and the others are mine, so if you want to use them, please just ask. Thank you.  
  
  
  
Chapter 4: Truth and Annoyances  
  
I woke again sometime later, feeling a bit better than I had before but not up to full strength. I was still in that dimly lighted darkness, which was now so much a part of my world. It had become somewhat of a comfort I guess, since I had been in it so long. But the longer I stayed, the more part of me grew edgy.  
  
That part of me, a small piece to begin with, didn't want to stay in the darkness any longer. It wanted to leave this place and be out in the light there. In the light, there was safety and understanding. In the darkness, there was only fear and uncertainty.  
  
And as time passed for me again, it grew. It made itself known bit by bit, until it consumed a greater portion of my mind and forced me to realize that it was time to leave the darkness. It was time to find the light again. All right, if that's so important, then I'll do it.  
  
Big mistake. I tried to open my eyes slowly, though they felt as heavy as weights when I tried. When they were barely open, just a slight crack, light poured into my eyes again. That was all it took. The light had barely touched me when I let out a gasp of surprise and sudden pain. My eyes closed again instantly, once more closing myself in darkness.  
  
Okay, so that probably wasn't one of the smartest things that I've ever done. Then again, I really didn't think that a bit of light would hurt my eyes so much, even now as they still stung from within. I don't think anyone does really. I've opened them in bright light before and been all right. So why was it so different this time?  
  
Hmm, newsflash for Magnolia my brain seemed to say sarcastically. The reason it was different was because your eyes have never gone this long without seeing light in full. The longest you've been without seeing before this was a night, when you were asleep. You don't know how long you've been out now, so you can't be sure how long it will take your eyes to adjust again.  
  
Makes sense, though I never thought that my own brain could talk back to me like that. Must be another sign of that fever dream that I had. Another sign that I must be losing my mind or at least starting too.  
  
"Not quite ready to rejoin the rest of us, I see," a voice rumbled.  
  
For the second time since I found myself in awareness, I was startled. I had heard a few sounds, creaks and whispers that didn't make much sense, but not another voice. So it took a moment for me to register that I was indeed no longer alone and that this wasn't a part of a fever dream. This was real.  
  
"You should wait a bit longer and let me dim the lamps a bit. Less light won't hurt your eyes as much," the voice continued, which I now saw as male.  
  
I heard footsteps moving away from me and into the distance. There was a clicking sound that I hadn't heard before and something else that I couldn't quite identify. Then the footsteps approached again and I felt a weight settling on the end of where I lay.  
  
"Now," he said," Try again and this time, do it more slowly than before. If you try too quickly, even in dimness like this, you'll just sting your eyes again. Give them time to adjust on their own terms."  
  
Easy for him to say. He wasn't the one who was stuck in gloom and with his eyes stinging like something had scratched them. But I followed his advice nonetheless, taking it slower than before. To my surprise and irritation, it actually worked.  
  
Little by little, with my eyes still stinging like crazy the whole time, I was able to take the light in again. I couldn't see much at first, mostly a big blur that took a long time to clear up. When it did, I was able to focus on one large object that I assumed to be the one that I spoke to.  
  
The object was fuzzy at first, edged in blurred lines that were caused by the light flooding all around us both. But after a couple of minutes of trying to focus and blinking my eyes several times, it started to come into alignment. Though when it did, I wasn't exactly too pleased to see who and what I had been talking to.  
  
It was a male of my own species, Katrian. Like me, he was a sort of feline humanoid, with the same obvious differences that I had from the humans I had grown up among. Ears that were larger by far and that caught every sound and movement about. A tail that helped to convey emotions as well as any expression, and claws that could tear and rend, just as well as aid another. But that was where the similarities between us ended, in more ways than one.  
  
This creature was a being cloaked in a skin of coal black fur, something that made him much darker when compared to my own pale white-grey fur. He watched everything through a pair of blue-green orbs that were also a sharp contrast to mine, which were a sort of fawn color that were strange even here.  
  
He was much larger than me as well, even while I was lying down like this. But that was a given. In the Katrian race, males are always the larger ones. The normal height for them is about seven feet or more, with only a few that are just below that. Females like myself however, only reach about six and half feet at the most, and that is what the majority of us are. I however, am one of those few exceptions.  
  
Even after I had hit my final growth about a year ago, I was still under six feet. In the ways of Katrians, this set me at sort of a disadvantage. After first arriving in Dimension X, I had learned that Katrian are a rare breed and of those that exist, they are all fighters. Size and strength to them is the only way to prove one's self. So I have my strength, which also showed up the last couple of years, but I didn't have the size. And now, with this creep looking down on me, it really did seem like a problem.  
  
Of course, I hadn't really expected to see his face when I woke up. Then again, not all that long ago, I hadn't been expecting to wake up period, so I guess there was room for other surprises. Still, of all the things I had been thought to see, this guy was definitely at the bottom of my list. Right around that area that has Shedder, Vynde, and a few other boneheads who would like to see me dead. A bit hasty on my part maybe, but after what he said to me the last time we met, I think it was a group this creep fit into perfectly.  
  
Behind him, though it was still very blurry to me at the moment, was mostly a great piece of gray-brown. It made me think of rock for some reason, because I remember other stones that color from when Donatello showed me his collection back in the lair. But I really didn't focus on that much at the moment, since the only main thing I could see was my 'benefactor', if that's what you could call him, and what I was doing in his company.  
  
"You remember me, don't you, Lia?" he asked gruffly.  
  
"Yeah, I remember you. You're Zenith," I snorted, unable to stop myself from glaring at him when he called me that.  
  
Right from the start, I've hated it when others called me Lia. It's the very last part of my name, Magnolia, and the one that people here in Dimension X use when they're addressing me. See, for some reason that's beyond me, folks here can't exactly manage the pronunciation of a difficult Earth word like Magnolia and they think that Maggie sounds too weird, so they just call me Lia instead. Whether I like or not.  
  
"Good," he nodded, returning my scowl with one of his own," That means that your memory is still intact. I was afraid that your mind might have been damaged when they beat you."  
  
Him, afraid of my brain being damaged? Nice sentiment, though coming from this guy, I doubted that it was true. From the first time I had met him in the swamps over a year before, this one had never cared for anyone else but himself. I could understand that somewhat, since here in Dimension X, the first and only person that you can usually depend on is yourself, but this guy took it to the extreme. He was about my age, maybe a year or two older, but still close enough, and as far as I knew, he never attached himself to anyone. If I remember correctly, he said that having others along was a liability and would just slow him down. So he never bothered with the little things such as friends and took care of himself.  
  
I can respect that, but only so much. I know what it's like on both sides of the tracks, so I know that a lot of times it's better to have friends. Then you have someone to watch your back when you can't. And in a lot of places I've been to, that's a policy I can agree with.  
  
"So," I said dryly, my voice more of a croak than before," What is this place, and why the heck am I with you?"  
  
"Guess you are feeling better. You're already asking questions when you should be resting," Zenith said, his voice still gruff.  
  
"Yeah, and I prefer to have them answered," I snorted.  
  
Still glaring at me, just like I still was at him, Zenith replied," I see that you're still as straightforward as you were last time."  
  
"And I see that you're still just as slow to give an answer. Now, where am I and what I am doing with you?" I snapped.  
  
For a moment, Zenith looked like he would have liked nothing better than to hit me. I can't say that I can blame him much, since the feeling was mutual and I didn't bother hiding the fact in my expression. But no blows ever came. He just glared down at me for nearly a minute, eyes still cold.  
  
"We're in one of the caves of a rebel base," he said instead," I brought you here after you were taken out of Rancor."  
  
"You, got me out of Rancor?" I scoffed," Forgive me if I don't laugh, but the last thing I recall before passing out was that I was being held in a cell in the fort, not out in the open."  
  
"You were, until they decided that you weren't good for anything else but feed. So they dumped you near a pit on the edge of Rancor for the next fodder run and that's where I and some of the others found you. We took you and got out before anyone noticed," Zenith growled.  
  
"And who were these others?" I asked suspiciously.  
  
"That would be us, she-kat," a new voice said from the other end of the room.  
  
My head turned toward the voice in a split second, and I was reward with another shock of pain. I let out a small gasp, but managed to hold the rest in.  
  
And that was a true test of myself, since all I wanted more than anything right now was to just yell and scream as pain shot through me every time I moved. But I didn't, not while I was being watched.  
  
Ignoring the ache now growing in my head and neck, I looked at who had entered. It was hard for me to make out at first, since they were so far away. Zenith obviously knew whoever had come, because I caught him lifting a hand in greeting out of the corner of my eye.  
  
Whoever had come seemed to return the gesture and then moved to come closer to us. As they approached, I was able to make out more detail and soon realized that I was staring at what could only be a Neutrino.  
  
It was a male, probably in his early to late twenties, though there was no way to tell for sure. All Neutrinos looked kind of like human children, since the tallest they normally grow is about four to four and a half feet tall. They're usually pale skinned and have long pointed ears that curve along the length of the side of the skull they're on. Both facts that this one seemed no exception too. Their personalities are a lot like children and teenagers too, even the adults, though I don't think that applied to this one, who seemed serious right off the bat. That's because all Neutrinos like to spend their time having fun and a general good time.  
  
At least, that's what they used to spend their time doing. When Krang came into power about two Earth decades ago, most of the good times for the Neutrinos and a lot of others came to an end. With their homes and families being attacked on what became a regular basis, they didn't have much choice but to fight back.  
  
Which is what they're doing now. The Neutrinos are among the few remaining factions of Dimension X's wide frontier that are still fighting to drive Krang and his forces out of power for good. So far, the battles are being won but not the war. That probably won't happen for a long time, since Krang has the advantage of troops and resources and the Neutrinos and their allies have that of knowing the lay of the land and cause.  
  
At least, that's what I've heard and been able to piece together. Other than Unai when we were at Rancor, I haven't known any Neutrinos personally. So I don't know the whole story on them or really what to expect of them. Which might explain why I was feeling so edgy around this one, who, now that he was close, I saw was eyeing me like a vulture.  
  
His clothing, a pale blue shirt and a pair of pants, was torn like a good many things I've seen but still surprisingly in good repair. It had a few holes and patches but otherwise seemed new. His hair, a fierce reddish- brown, was somewhat a mess as well, partially matted and disarrayed. There was a ponytail in the back, but it did little good to tame the rest of the mass.  
  
"And just who are you?" I asked.  
  
"I'm called Kale," he replied evenly," And I believe that you are Lia."  
  
"I've been called that and a lot of other things," I snorted," But I'll answer to that one quick enough, since it's part of my whole name."  
  
Kale and Zenith, neither one losing the hardness of their faces, looked at me quizzically. But I offered no reason for my answer. As I mentioned before, most of those who knew me in this world had no idea of my full name and even if they did, it would do them little good. None here had ever been able to pronounce it correctly and thus they and I were stuck with the shortened term of Lia. And if my mentioning this little bit of information, even if it wasn't total, then they could just deal with it. I mean, if I could deal with Lia, they can just deal with a little confusion.  
  
For these two, that didn't seem to last too long. If they were still curious to know more about what I spoke of, they hid it well. Instead, their faces went featureless again, except for their eyes. Those still shone with mistrust and silence.  
  
"It's good to see that you are finally awake, Lia," Kale said finally, his voice neutral," After seeing what they did to you, we thought that you never would. You must have a strong spirit, to pull through with what I presume is a sound mind."  
  
"It takes more than a bunch of muscle-brained punks to keep me down for long," I countered calmly," Besides, I've dealt with worse."  
  
All right, maybe that was stretching things a bit. I've been hurt quite a bit in my life, but never as bad as that. I had never before come that close to death or fallen into a coma. The worst that I had gone through was a few broken bones and a concussion when I got in a fight when I was twelve. But I wasn't about to say that much to these two. The last thing I needed was to appear weaker than I already had, so I could afford to exaggerate just a bit.  
  
"Perhaps, but I would not wish to experience such," Kale sniffed.  
  
Zenith said nothing. He continued to stay off to the side, watching the two of us. I barely gave him a second glance however, since my attention was now focused on Kale.  
  
"Perhaps so," I nodded.  
  
All right, enough with the small talk. I was starting to get a partial idea of what had happened. If what they said was true and it had to be since I was here, then they had gone and taken me from Rancor, a risk in itself. If they had been caught, then they would have been as dead as I would have been. So it made me wonder, why would they risk so much just to help me? It was a question I wanted to ask, but kept to myself for the moment. No reason to appear overeager or more wary than I already was.  
  
I don't know how, but Kale must have guessed at what I was thinking. He acted quickly, speaking the words that I had not said myself.  
  
"Now that you're awake, I suppose that you're wondering why we brought you here. Am I right, Lia?" Kale replied calmly.  
  
"The thought had crossed my mind," I replied coolly.  
  
"One would think so," he said," And I will answer that, if you wish. But first, let me ask you something. Do you know remember a young Neutrino woman named Unai?"  
  
Unai? Of course I knew her, but what did she have to do with anything?  
  
"Yes, I know her. We were in the same work shift for about six months in Rancor," I replied, still a bit confused," But she isn't there anymore. She and some others..."  
  
"Escaped from Rancor, with the help of a Katrian female. Namely, you," Kale finished abruptly.  
  
Okay, now if it wouldn't have hurt so much, I know my jaw would've dropped at hearing that. Just how did this guy know about my helping Unai? Despite the dead on suspicions that got me beaten up at Rancor, the only people who knew that for certain were myself and those I helped.  
  
"How did you know that?" I said, unable to hide the surprise in my voice.  
  
"I know because Unai told me. She's the one who sent us after you," Kale replied.  
  
Once again, if it wouldn't have hurt like a nightmare, my jaw would've dropped at least a foot at this rate. Unai, a kid who couldn't even keep herself out of trouble for more than five minutes, had not only managed to keep from being recaptured, but sent someone after me? Boy, I really have to stop underestimating people like this.  
  
"Unai, huh?" I replied," Remind me to thank her for the favor the next time I see her."  
  
"A nice sentiment, Lia, but one that will not be possible or necessary," Kale sniffed," Unai has other responsibilities that require her attention and she sent us after you as a return for the favor of helping her to begin with."  
  
"Which would be?" I asked.  
  
I couldn't help but wondering at that. As I said, Unai was a good kid, just a year or so younger than me, but she hardly knew how to take care of herself. Back in Rancor, she was always getting into some sort of trouble, whether she meant to or not, and I was constantly having to save her from being pummeled by someone. It still amazes me that she wasn't killed outright on some occasions, even with me there.  
  
"That's really none of your concern. Just know that Unai is a very important figure in the Neutrino forces and had the Stone Warriors found her in time, she could have been used to gain information on our operations. We couldn't allow that to happen or else more than half our forces would be destroyed," Kale replied.  
  
Whoa, that was certainly something that I hadn't been expecting. Unai was important in the rebel forces against Krang? Man, you certainly wouldn't believe that if you saw how she had been at Rancor. But I guess that you never really can judge a book by its cover and that was just another reason never to underestimate someone.  
  
"Which is why she and the others needed to escape so badly. They couldn't risk being caught," I said, finally understanding where this was going.  
  
"Yes. Somehow she managed not only to smuggle a group into Rancor, but to keep it hidden for six months, gathering information the whole time. But they were eventually found out and the Stone Warriors were on their way to pick her up. Unai got word of that and knew that she had to escape by any means necessary, even if it meant paying the ultimate price," Kale replied.  
  
"Would imagine so," I said," Easier to get in than out."  
  
"Yes," agreed Kale," Which is why they were getting desperate to try just about anything and were quite ready to terminate themselves before the Stone Warriors arrived."  
  
"Until I offered to help them escape," I concluded.  
  
"Exactly," Kale nodded," And you can imagine that it must have seemed like a miracle that you were offering to do so, despite the risk you were taking and the gains that could have been yours had you turned them in. That was also why you were beaten so badly. They couldn't prove it, but you had aided in the escape of what could have been a very important source of information had they gotten it."  
  
"And here I was thinking I got it so bad because they didn't like me," I snorted.  
  
"Joke if you will, Lia, but what I speak of is serious," Kale said sternly," If you had stayed just one more day in that place, you would have been dead. It's only because Unai told us to find you that you're alive. Though I don't see why you would take such punishment upon yourself for another, that was what saved your life."  
  
I repressed a sigh at hearing these words, once more finding myself surprised at the acute weirdness of this universe. There was certainly war and death all over the place, with betrayal and its ilk as a commonplace. Any fool could see that. But I still found it hard to believe that no one could believe in a thing like simple kindness. That one person would help another, despite what the consequences could be.  
  
"I suppose," I shrugged, wincing in the process.  
  
"And that was the other reason we agreed to find you," Kale continued," A being such as yourself is a rare find, and we felt that you might be worth the effort for us, regardless of Unai's debt."  
  
"Worth an effort?" I snorted," Well, that's the first time I've heard those words in a long time."  
  
"Perhaps, but they may well prove to be true. Though I won't jump to any conclusions, based simply on what I've learned," Kale nodded.  
  
Smart choice on his part, one of the few that I've heard since getting here. Most would either dismiss stories outright or take it for more than it was. But, I guess that's beside the point. We each have to believe what we can in this world and just go with what we feel is right. Still, I found myself respecting this guy a little more for at least this decision.  
  
Now, that just left one question for me to ask. What was I supposed to do now? Once I recovered, and I was certain that it wouldn't take too long for that, despite how much I hurt, I had to do something. I wasn't about to stay cooped up forever in some cave, no matter how safe. I had to do something and I wanted to know what else these people wanted from me, if they even did.  
  
"All right, now that we've got that straight, there's just one thing I want to know," I said," Now that you've got me, what are you going to do with me?"  
  
"That's up to you, Lia," Kale replied," Our main reason for getting you out was because of what you did for Unai, and once you recover, that debt to you is paid. We won't force you to remain or go, but you'll have to do one or the other. If you stay, then you'll be welcomed to join our ranks and you'll have to earn your keep. If you go, then it's for good. You'll be escorted away and won't be allowed to return. I'm sure that you can understand when I say that we can't afford freeloaders or risk being discovered."  
  
"Yes, I do," I replied.  
  
I certainly did understand, more than either of these two could possibly know. Life on Earth was certainly better than this place, but there were certain similarities that still around. Like having to hide in the darkness and keep from being discovered or risk being captured for experiments and study. Oh, I knew all about what it meant to stay hidden.  
  
"Good," Kale nodded," You have until you've recovered enough to care for yourself to give me a decision. Until then, you best get some rest. Someone will be by later to check on you."  
  
With that he saluted and left the room, thus leaving me alone once more with the Creep of Dimension X. Not that he remained long after that either. For probably just a minute or two after Kale had left us, Zenith stood there, staring down at me.  
  
His expression was unreadable as before, the scowl he had first given me long gone. But his eyes were still shining with that gleam of distrust that I've found common among the inhabitants of Dimension X. I could only guess why he felt such a way toward me, despite such things. We were, after all, the same species. And even if this meant little in the scheme of things, you would think he would at least have that much respect for me. I gave him that much at least. That and the respect that one warrior gives another.  
  
I really didn't dwell on that long nor did I have the chance. As I said, Zenith remained only a few moments at the most after Kale had left us. He watched me intently during that time, watching my every move. Then, when I was about to say something, he withdrew. He just left, leaving me alone in the chamber where I lay, with only my own thoughts and surprise as company. 


	6. Adjustments

Disclaimer: I don't own TMNT, so you can't sue me. I'm just borrowing them for a bit. But all the original creations are mine, so if you want to use them, please just ask. Thank you.  
  
Chapter 5: Adjustments  
  
The real surprise of this whole experience was that once I came out of my coma-like sleep, it only took me about two months to fully recuperate. Now, by the standards that I grew up with, that's pretty damn fast. Back home, after having nearly every bone in your body broken and most internal organs near final shutdown, the best a person could usually hope for was either complete or severe paralysis. At worst, you would end up like a vegetable.  
  
Not so here. By Katrian standards, I had actually been a bit slow with my healing. That comes from the fact that we Katrians are among the most regenerative species of Dimension X. We can be injured almost to the point of death, like I was, and still come out with a fully functional body if not a mind.  
  
This is how it works. First you're injured badly, like having a leg blown apart or getting stabbed in the back. After that and a lot of blood loss, you fall into a sort of coma. Kind of like the one I had spent a month stuck in, but almost always without the added curse of weird voices and fever dreams. Now, unlike a coma that a human falls into, this one isn't dangerous and you always wake up from it. When, that all depends on how seriously you were hurt. If it was light, then maybe a few days to a week. If it's severe, then usually a couple of weeks to a month or more.  
  
During this period, or the Lull as it's called, the body heals itself at an accelerated rate. Bones are mended, tissues repaired, muscles and tendons knitted back together, the whole nine yards. What should take months or years to heal is done so in a fraction of the time. And when it's all done, you wake up and it's as if nothing ever happened.  
  
Well, almost. There's always the possibility that there could have been brain damage as well as physical. If there is, then it's pretty certain that the injured will never be the same again. This stems from the fact that the Lull can only heal bodily wounds. It has no power to heal that of the mind. Why this is so, no one knows for certain, especially since the brain is a major part of the body. But that's just how it is and there's no way around it.  
  
All in all though, it's a pretty cool trick if I do say so and one that I can live with, but it does have it's downsides. Besides irreparable brain damage, when stuck in the Lull, a Katrian is vulnerable and unaware of their surroundings. It's the easiest time to kill one of us and if an enemy finds you alone without someone on guard, then you're as good as dead.  
  
As far as most are concerned however, that's just a small price to pay if it means surviving and living to fight another day. That's all that really matters as far as Kale and the others are concerned. The fitter their soldiers are, the better they are in battle and like Katrians, the Lull is a price they're willing to pay as long as there's someone like me to do the fighting.  
  
That's right. I'm now one of the rebel elite, serving directly under Kale himself. I had thought about it a good while when I was recovering and came to the decision that for now, the best place for me to be was among others like myself. At least here I knew that everyone wasn't out to kill me like back in the camps and here, I could maybe make more of a difference. Besides, it's not like I had any place else to go and who knows, maybe I might even find some clue as to how I can get back to Earth again.  
  
At the moment though, that's the least of my problems. Right now, my biggest concern is staying alive. If I can do that, then I'll worry more about the rest.  
  
Right now, a group of us are about a week's journey from Furlough. That's the name of the rebel base that I now call home. It's a series of underground caverns that are located in a swamp on the world of Mire Ra. The planet is a mostly uninhabited maze of bogs and other natural death traps that could make even a full squad of Krang's elite forces cringe. Which is what makes it a perfect place for us to hide out.  
  
Lately though, what offers us a great defense isn't giving us much in the way of other basic needs. Food and medical supplies are scarce on Mire Ra. No, let's face it, except for what we already have, they're practically nonexistent. The vegetation and fauna that also live on that rock are either too poisonous or otherwise for us to bother with. And what little dry land that isn't underground has so much sludge and gunk covering it that it would take decades to make it fit for farming. That's just time we don't have these days.  
  
So we're forced to resort to other methods to support ourselves. We would never stooped to common piracy and rob the few honest merchants and travelers that there are in Dimension X. No, that would make us as low as Krang's people and no one I know wants to be accused of that. But that doesn't mean we're not above stealing from them however, which is what we do.  
  
Like we are now. Our target is Climhazzard, an isolated Stone Warrior base that's on the barren moon of Fenrir. Being way out here in the boondocks, it wouldn't seem like the right spot to get supplies from. Well, as I've learned, things in Dimension X aren't always what they seem. As was the case with Climhazzard.  
  
From a distance, it really doesn't seem like much. Just another one of those outposts that Warlord Krang stations through Dimension X to stake a claim to a patch of space and then forgets. The soldiers in places like that, being stationed out on a more or less deserted frontier, usually don't see that much action. Maybe the occasional raid from refugees or true pirates seeking an easy strike, but that's it. Otherwise, all they have to do all day is drill and sit on their stony rears.  
  
That should have been the deal at Climhazzard too. It fits the same description as others like it; remote location, hardly any skirmishes, nothing of real value, the whole package. It would seem like the least likely place even for a group of our size to worry about. And it's in that that Climhazzard reveals its true colors.  
  
In reality, Climhazzard is the exact opposite of what others believe. It isn't just another lonely outpost left on some moon. It's a major checkpoint station for supply and medical transports for Krang's armies. The remoteness of it allows that few will see the three or four cruisers that come in during the week to refuel before they move onto the fronts where the major action is. No one's ever the wiser, which means they have an easier time moving things around. At least, until Kale and the other superiors got wind of the little scheme and decided that it was the perfect place to start getting our supplies.  
  
Which is why we're here now, getting burnt and blasted at. A special task force, including myself, had been assembled and was ordered to act as a distraction. While we did, another team, led by none other than my less than dashing knight in a black pelt, Zenith, was to infiltrate the place and get as much as they could before we were forced to pull out.  
  
For the moment, we're holding our own, if not very well, and there doesn't seem to be any sign that our second group has been discovered. Which means if I don't get my hopes up too high and thus jinx the whole thing, that we just might be able to pull this off. If we do, then we'll have at least another two weeks that we don't have to rely on the emergency stores back at the base.  
  
That's a good thing as far as I'm concerned and probably everyone else as well. We have a total of 249 people living at Furlough. Most are either in their late teens to early twenties, all beings who have lost their families and homes to the war against Lord Krang. A few are young children, either orphans found by the rebels after an attack or relatives of those who already lived at the base. These, we keep secret even from our allies, since they would be at the greatest risk should we be discovered. They're never allowed to join in battles and are kept under constant guard at Furlough when there's trouble.  
  
The others are older, in their thirties or beyond. A few, like Marl, a Stone Warrior who defected to our side years before I was even born, are elders, 60 or more by human standards. They don't fight as much as the rest of us, but they earn their keep in other ways. Through them we gain advice and battle experience that younger generations haven't earned yet. In a crisis, this makes them invaluable and during times like that, it's when we learn to appreciate age for what it is.  
  
And it was all of these that were depending on us now. They were counting on us, a group of thirty, twenty in our group and ten in Zenith's, to bring back the supplies that we so desperately needed. I hated to think of what could happen to them if we didn't come back and it was the thought of them that helped me to keep going as I ducked and fired at the Warriors.  
  
"Nice shooting, she-kat," said Reno, the Neutrino who had taken up a position next to me," Think you can hold up till Z-man and the others get out of there?"  
  
He was a typical Neutrino youth for the most part. He's about sixteen years of age and very hyper like many Neutrinos are, even in situations like this. He had the same youthful appearance as they all had, as well as the same hard rock clothing style that a lot of teens had taken to these days. His was a mixture of light blue that pretty much complimented his orange-red hair and deep crimson shades.  
  
I had known Reno almost from the start. He was one of the first ones to approach me and introduce himself. During the course of the five months since I officially joined the ranks, we've become good friends and he's one of the few people that actually has a complete respect for who I am, ninja habits and all.  
  
See that's one of the few things my new associates are still finding a little hard to swallow. I have many of what they call 'strange' habits, like my rising early so that I can practice my katas and my evening meditation. No one else that they've heard of has ever done that, especially not a Katrian, and most find it a little too weird to strike up a friendship with me. So with a few exceptions, most normally keep their distance from me on the personal level.  
  
Not that I really care. I've found that when you're in a war like this, it's best not to get too close to those around you. You can never tell when you're going to lose them and I've already lost enough people in my life to know that sometimes it's better to be alone. But that doesn't mean I won't make room for others if they try, like I have with Reno.  
  
"I'll keep it up for as long as I need to, Reno," I grunted, firing over the ridge of the boulder that was providing us with cover," But if they're in there for too long, the rockheads might get wise and double back to their base. We won't be able to do much then and the others will be on their own."  
  
We didn't have much of a chance to talk after that, since a renewed volley of missiles were coming our way. They were increasing now, as the Warriors were bringing in the big guns, literally. Or more precisely, one huge cannon that could easily wipe a group of twenty like us if the aim was just right.  
  
When I saw this, I knew that it was about time for us to leave, with or without the others. It wasn't the nature of rebels to leave their own behind, wounded or otherwise. We need each other to survive and losing even one can be a damaging blow to an entire operation. But at times like this, desperate measures had to be taken for the good of the whole if not for the few.  
  
I shouldn't have bothered even thinking that. At that same instance, which I still think was some perverse trick of timing done by Zenith, there was a blast from within Climhazzard. It caused a wall of smoke to explode from the northernmost wall, followed by a shower of bedrock and soil.  
  
Out of the smoke, appearing like magic, was a supply transport. It lumbered into sight slowly at first but then managed to pick up speed. A few surprised Warriors tried firing shots if they were close enough, but it did little good. In no time at all, the transport was away from Climhazzard and winging its way toward what I knew would be Furlough.  
  
"All right, people. Mission accomplished," bellowed Specter, another Katrian male and the commander of the task force," Everyone pull out."  
  
We did just that, retreating and leaving the Warriors wondering what had just happened to them. Well, if I had thought it would matter, I could have told them easily. With the outside force acting as a diversion, Zenith's team had managed to sneak in after all.  
  
I later learned that they hadn't been discovered until almost the last moment, when a new cadet had come across them taking supplies from a docked transport. They managed to knock him out but not before he had raised the alarm. With the thought of capture breathing down their necks, Zenith was forced to improvise. So instead of just taking a few supplies from the reserves, he took the entire transport they were on. It was a risky tactic, but one that he was willing to take.  
  
Using the transport's own weapons, Zenith ordered a hole blown in the fortress and it was through that that they made their escape. In the process, it provided the rest of us with cover too. Using the smoke and rubble as a diversion, my group withdrew, leaving behind a bunch of very bewildered Stone Warriors. By the time they managed to realize what had happen, we were all long gone and on our way home.  
  
*Author's note: Reno was based on the red-haired Neutrino from the TMNT episode Hot Roddin' Teenagers from Dimension X. I didn't know his real name, so I just gave him one. 


	7. Annoyance Strikes Again revised

Disclaimer: I don't own TMNT, so you can't sue me. I'm just borrowing them for a bit. But all the original creations are mine, so if you want to use them, please just ask. Thank you.  
  
Chapter 6: Annoyance strikes again  
  
A week later.  
  
Compared to the action that we saw at Climhazzard, the trip home was pretty uneventful. All we did then was go out a few thousand light years, find an abandoned planetoid with no name, and ditch the transport after gladly relieving it of its cargo. After that, it was just a simple matter of driving home.  
  
If I weren't so used to riding with Reno the Reckless Wonder, I might say that the ride back was an adventure in itself. Neutrinos aren't the most cautious of drivers even under the more dire or circumstances and it shows especially when they're in a good mood. You can never really tell just when the next barrel roll and vertical drop will occur. But I've more or less gotten used to that in the last few months and so I just slept in the backseat on the return journey when I wasn't on guard point or listening to Reno and the guys sing their heads off while they attempted very bad kareoke.  
  
Needless to say, everyone was pretty happy with the success of our mission when we got back. It was the first time in awhile that we had gotten by without any hitches in a mission and this got everyone into a good mood. Of course, it meant more work storing what we now had and planning for the next raid, but that's beside the point. Which leads me to where I am now.  
  
Leaning against the guardrail, I watch the very people in question below me. They're all bustling about on one errand or another, most of which have to do with the new supplies. None of them are aware of my presence above and seem more bent on their own business. That was perhaps for the best, since all I wanted to do right now was watch them and relax for a few moments.  
  
I had earned that much at least. I mean, not counting sleep, it had been a long time since I had been able to stand around and do nothing. Ever since I recovered enough, I've been running around like a chicken with my head cut off. It's been so long since I did something like this that I was actually starting to forget what true relaxation felt like.  
  
Well, today was only the first of at least a four-day period where there was nothing serious that I was needed for. I'd already had a debriefing with Kale about the mission at Climhazzard, as had all involved, and after that he said I was free to take a break if I wanted. Like I needed to be told twice.  
  
I've been going almost nonstop since I started with the rebels five months ago. I take part in a lot of undercover missions, espionage, supply runs and that sort of thing. Anything, with the exception of morgue duty, that they can think of for me to do, I'll get it done. As for morgue duty, I keep my distance from that. Despite my times on the battlefield, I just can't handle being around the dead for too long, especially if they're people that I know. It's too depressing.  
  
But that's all beside the point. What matters is that I'm free from all that and for the moment, this is how I choose to spend my time. Watching others from the heights and feeling good knowing that unless we have an emergency, I won't have to rejoin them for the next few days.  
  
Unfortunately, some other force seemed to have other plans for me. I stayed where I was a bit longer before I decided that it was time for me to move on. I thought maybe I would track down Reno. He was bound to have a bit of free time as well and maybe I could talk him into a game of Genku. That's a type of card game played here in Dimension X and is one of the few things other than fighting that I've actually become quite an expert at.  
  
Since the loading bay was closest to my present location, I thought there might be a good place to start looking. If I was lucky, Reno would be there trying to woo Kala, a young Neutrino woman that I had become friends with a couple of months before. He's always flirting with her, particularly when Zan, another possible suitor, is around. She hasn't accepted either of them however, and tends to keep the two at arms' length, just to give them something to work for.  
  
And because I knew that Kala had been assigned to the loading bay this week, Reno would probably be there too. So with that in mind, I headed for the stairs and for the bay.  
  
I hadn't gone far when I heard someone call out my name. I halted and glanced about, not sure if I had heard right or not. It had been a bit faint and had bit of an echo with all the rock around. Shrugging, I started off again and then heard my name a second time.  
  
This time, I could tell that it was coming from behind me, so I turned around to see who it was. To my dismay and disgust, it was none other than Talceryn with his group of flunkies coming up behind me. Talceryn was a Katrian like myself and Zenith, one of about a dozen that make their home here with the Neutrinos at Furlough. He's what one might consider the pinnacle of Katrian physique and breeding, or at least, that's how he sees things. I for one, think he's just he pinnacle of egotism.  
  
Talceryn stands about as tall Zenith, but is shorter than him by about four or five centimeters and still larger than me by a full foot. His fur, a deep and rich mahogany, is finely textured and seems to hold a constant sheen even when dirtied. He's a finely muscled creature and no one can doubt that he has excellent reflexes. In fact, there's hardly anyone among us who can match in speed and agility, including most of the other Katrians. Thankfully, I'm not among those and can still give this creep a run for his money in that department.  
  
With all that and the Katrian form of good looks, one might think that he had some modesty and a little bit of compassion for others. Ha! You couldn't be farther from the truth. Talceryn is selfish and self-centered, right to the core. All he cares about is making himself look good in the eyes of the leaders and getting all the glory that he can. Sometimes I think that's the only reason why he even helps out here. That and it means a safe place for him to hide out when there's trouble. Even with his talents, I seriously doubt that he would last very long on his own.  
  
Thankfully, Talceryn and I never have to spend a lot of time around each other. When we do, it's almost always when we're assigned to a mission and then we're with at least one or two others, so there's always a chance of me having backup. If I see him in the corridors and if there's time, I always head in the opposite direction. The last thing I want is to spend my time listening to Talceryn talk about how great is and insult everyone else in the process.  
  
Because that's what he does in his spare time. With the exception of his special group of three, Creva, Tedoi, and Ebon, all Katrians of course, Talceryn has a smart remark to say to just about everyone. Either they're not fast enough or good enough to be on the battlefield, or they're just too ordinary to be a real warrior. Usually something along those lines. The petty things that make him feel better about himself.  
  
Only a commander like Kale is safe from that sharp tongue saying something to their face. Talceryn isn't stupid enough to insult one of them to their faces. Instead, he does it behind their backs and around those who won't pass the word back to the victim. The face-to-face confrontations he saves for the common soldier like myself, Reno, and others.  
  
So any time I see him coming, I just go in some other direction. It's not that I mind when he insults me about my height or what others see as strange habits, like my meditating and tendency toward privacy. To be honest, I could really care less about that sort of thing.  
  
I mean, what would be the point? If I got upset, it would just give him what he wanted and he would keep up at it. So when he does get near me and starts spouting off, I just zone off like I did when I was a kid listening to one of Leo's longwinded Splinternese speeches and soon enough, when I don't respond, he and his band of merry fools are usually gone again.  
  
So as they came closer, I pretended not to notice them. I just kept going on my way, finally heading down the stairs and slimly hoping that I just might be able to find some excuse to avoid them before they caught up. No such luck. Before I had gone too far, just making it to the cavern below the walk where I had just been, Talceryn and company caught up to me.  
  
"Hey, hold on, Lia. What's your hurry?" Ebon asked, a male with a coat of black fur very similar to Zenith's but a bit paler.  
  
He's the middle sized one of this bunch and one of the biggest motormouths in Furlough. The largest is Tedoi, a beige colored male with a series of scars on his right arm and one bent ear. He doesn't really say much, but says enough with his fist when he wants to. Smallest is Creva, a ruddy furred creature that is the one Katrian male that I've met who stands at my height. The only way to describe him is to call him a pest and that's putting it mildly. He can get under just about anyone's skin and sometimes even his own friends have a hard time dealing with him. In-between these three and leader of the whole crew is none other than Talceryn himself, who has been described more than enough by now.  
  
"Yeah, we just want to talk," Creva snickered.  
  
Ugh. So much for having a quiet afternoon. Guess I'll just have to get this over with. The sooner I get passed the niceties, the sooner I can get away from King Annoyance and his Knights of the Ridiculous Table.  
  
"About what?" I asked coolly, merely glancing over my shoulder at them instead of turning around completely.  
  
"Actually, I'm the one who wants to talk with you. These guys just came along to make sure we weren't disturbed," Talceryn replied as he left the group and came up to me.  
  
Big time red alert on that one. Now I knew that something here wasn't right. The only time when Talceryn wanted to talk about something, it was to get it for himself and that always meant trouble for someone else. This time, it turned out to be me.  
  
Turning partially so that I could have a better look at him, I replied," And what's so important that you need to make sure we're not bothered?"  
  
"You'll see. Why don't we go to my quarters and I'll tell you further?" Talceryn answered sweetly.  
  
Oh brother. Did this guy honestly think that I was stupid enough to fall for that one? That I would actually go somewhere alone with him with just the three Stooges around if he tried anything? If he did, then I think that someone needed to give this guy a serious checkup from the neck up because he needed one bad.  
  
"I think here will be just fine," I said," Whatever you have to say to me shouldn't be too private that you can't trust a friend or two overhearing."  
  
Hmm, let him chew on that one. If my hunch is right and he seriously wants to talk without making a scene, then he won't press the issue. He'll agree to talk here in the open, and if he doesn't and tries to get nasty, well, I'm ready if he tries anything.  
  
"Are you sure? It is something of a personal nature," Talceryn insisted lightly.  
  
Yes, I had him. He's getting a little nervous. Now if I can just work this right, I can get rid of him and be on my way.  
  
Shaking my head, I replied," Unless you can say it here, then please don't bother."  
  
"Oh, very well," he sighed, glancing over his shoulder to make sure his friends were acting as guards," If you insist so much, we'll just talk here."  
  
All right, that was easy. Hold it. Maybe a little too easy. From what I know about this guy, once he sets his mind to something, he doesn't give up so quickly. So why was he starting now? I'm not quite certain on that one. Guess I'll just have to be on my toes until this is over.  
  
"So what's so important?" I asked.  
  
"You're an impatient little thing, aren't you?" Talceryn smiled," You just want to get straight to business instead of having a pleasant little chat first."  
  
That's probably because I would rather spend my time listening to Doc drone on about first aid than stand here with you. At least with Doc I know he hasn't got anything nasty planned.  
  
"I don't mean to be rude, Talceryn, it's just that I really don't have time to talk right now," I lied calmly," I just have a lot planned for today and I'm in a hurry. So please, just tell me what you want so I can get going."  
  
All right, so I was stretching the truth a bit. The only thing that I had planned was tracking down Reno and I had just come up with that plan about five minutes before. But I was willing to use any excuse to get away from this crowd, even if it meant resorting to lying.  
  
"Oh, I think you might want to slow down for this one, Lia. It does involve your future after," Talceryn smiled.  
  
"My future?" I scoffed lightly," What could you possibly have to say that would involve my future, Talceryn?"  
  
Acting as if nothing were wrong, Talceryn continued with a leering grin," You're a pretty little thing, you know that, don't you, Lia? You have many traits that a male like myself finds desirable in a female. You're quick, agile, and have great potential as a warrior. It's quite a surprise that no one has offered himself to you yet."  
  
Okay, now this was just too weird. Talceryn actually complimenting me, saying that I was desirable as a female. All right, either he's playing a really funky joke on me or else he's high on something. And the more I listen, the more I'm leaning toward number two.  
  
"Of course, it might be because of all those little habits of yours that drive the males off. What, with the way you keep to yourself so much, go into these trances, and sparring with your shadow at all hours of the night," he shrugged, finally sounding like the creep that I knew and loathed so much," But those are things that can be overlooked, if you were willing to stop wasting your talents on the battlefield and put them to better use in the bed of your champion, where you could really make a difference."  
  
"And just who is this champion of mine?" I asked.  
  
"Why, me of course," Talceryn purred.  
  
GROSS!!! Was this guy actually serious!? Him, my champion? Please. I have more faith in being rescued from a horde of deranged Stone Warriors by Warlord Krang himself than this guy. As to waiting for him in a bed, not in this lifetime or any other. I'll let myself be taken back to Rancor in live electric wires before that happens.  
  
"That's something you may want to consider, Lia," Talceryn continued," I mean, you can't just keep wasting everyone's time by fighting when you could be an even better service by producing more warriors from the finest lines. What do you say?"  
  
All right, now I'm really starting to feel sick. First of all, there wasn't enough money in any universe that could be paid to me in order to share the same room, much less the same bed with Talceryn for even one night. Just the thought of that makes my skin crawl. As to 'producing warriors from the finest lines' and wasting everyone's time by fighting alongside others, I have only one answer for that. As Raph once put it so adequately, and I quote: HELL NO!  
  
"Well," Talceryn demanded impatiently," What do you say to that, runt? I've made you an offer and I want an answer."  
  
Hiding my disgust under a mask of calm, I replied," No. The only bed I sleep in is my own. Not yours, or anyone else's."  
  
"WHAT!?" Talceryn snarled in surprised outrage," You're refusing me?!"  
  
"I believe that about sums it up," I replied, still keeping my cool," Now if you'll excuse me, I have other things to do. Good day."  
  
"You're not going anywhere," Talceryn growled as he grabbed my arm.  
  
"Let me go, Talceryn," I warned," I don't want any trouble."  
  
"Oh, I'll let you go, as soon as you learn your place in this world," Talceryn sneered.  
  
I should have known then that he was up to something. He always was. I should have taken the first chance I had and gotten away from him by giving the jerk a good hard scratch across his face. Then I could have just escaped while he was crying about his ruined face. But no, I had to be a civil idiot and try giving him a chance at being reasonable. Yeah, like that would ever happen.  
  
As I find out when Talceryn suddenly flung me toward a wall and I got the wind knocked out of me. I let out a sharp gasp as I hit and fell to my knees. I sat there a moment, bracing myself and trying to get my breath back.  
  
Leaving behind his group of snickering cronies, who were still keeping others at bay, Talceryn sniffed haughtily," I think since you're still new here, Lia, there's a few things that you ought to know. Number one, no one ever refuses me, especially a pathetic female like you. Number two, I always get what I want and nothing ever stops me. Got that?"  
  
Oh, I got it all right. I get that he was the biggest egotistical jackass that had ever lived. Honestly, did he really think that if he beat me up a little bit that I was going to cave in and settle for his demands? If he did, then he was seriously mistaken. Magnolia gives into no one, least of all scum like this.  
  
Which meant that the time had come. Enough was enough. For months I had put up with snide remarks and insults from Talceryn and his cronies. I chose to ignore them for the most part instead of acknowledging them, thus never giving them the satisfaction that I knew that they sought. And now this; bullying and threatening me into become his willing concubine. This time, Talceryn had gone too far and it was time that someone taught him a lesson. Namely, me.  
  
So as Talceryn neared me a second time, I jumped to my feet and lashed out my fist, aiming straight for his face. Now, I had never been seen to fight in anything but a true battle, so retaliation was never expected from me. Which meant I had the advantage of surprise on my side and I was rewarded with a satisfying smack as my fist made contact with his nose.  
  
When it did, I knew right away that his nose was broken. There was a sound of bone crunching that left little doubt of that. I really didn't stop to notice, since my mind was already focused on the next move.  
  
While Talceryn fell away from me and went into shock over his broken nose, I twisted my body and slammed my elbow right into his stomach. He instantly doubled over, forgetting his nose for the moment and clutching at his stomach instead. Leaving me open for yet another move and that was when my training suddenly kicked in for the first time in a long while.  
  
Acting on instinct, I followed through with an old kata that Splinter had taught me when I was just learning the basics. It only involves a quick spinning foot kick and an arm defense, but it's still pretty effective. As I saw when my foot caught Talceryn across the cheek and knocked him to the ground.  
  
He literally flew about ten feet before he landed and fell to the ground again in a heap. He didn't have a chance to get up and try to retaliate, since I was on top of him with my foot planted on his chest almost as soon as he hit the floor. Once again, the ninja training was taking control and I wasn't about to stop it.  
  
I drove my foot deep into his chest, making sure that he knew that I was there. He gasped in pain, probably aching in more than one place by now. I glared down at him while he did, part of me actually surprised that I had won so easily and quickly.  
  
"Fair warning, gutter trash. If you ever touch me like that again or even come near me for any reason," I snarled," you'll be wishing that the Stone Warriors had gotten a hold of you instead. Got it?"  
  
"Y-yeah. I-I got it," Talceryn choked.  
  
"Good. I'm glad that we understand each other," I said with disgust, stepping off his chest.  
  
Talceryn lay in a heap on the ground, wheezing and gasping for breath. I watched him briefly, still feeling disgusted and not the least bit sorry for this creep. I may have gone a bit far in dealing with him but at least he now he would know better than to assume that I was an easy mark and pick a fight with me. Which was a bit of peace that I could welcome to what little I had these days.  
  
A crowd had gathered around us by this time, but no one, not even Talceryn's cronies dared to approach us. I guess I had made a better impression than I thought. Well, I had better things to do than just stand around watching this jerk try to regain himself, so I turned and started to walk away.  
  
Almost immediately, the crowd parted, allowing me a clear path across the cavern. Once again, no one was daring to stop me or risk having me bash their heads in. Good move on their parts, considering that I was now in a foul mood thanks to that slimebag and had a growing headache the size of Jupiter.  
  
I walked away then, leaving my opponent to his own devices. He was still gasping and panting fiercely by the time I was gone. When I was far enough away, others came to his side, mostly his own comrades, to see if he was all right. Others just stood by, some caught in shock over what had just happened and other simply grinning with the satisfaction that at least someone had the guts to put Talceryn in his place.  
  
As I strode farther away, I could hear for someone calling for Doc to be found. Good call, but not totally necessary. Talceryn would be fine, eventually. Though I know how to kill or maim someone when I want to, I only do that as a final resort and even then I don't like doing it. Even after what I've seen and had done to me, I just don't feel right taking the life of another, even that of a foe. It doesn't seem like my right to do something that extreme.  
  
So when I handled Talceryn, I had just hurt him a bit. He would be extremely sore in the days to come, especially with that broken nose, but it was nothing serious. He would recover, eventually, and in the meantime he would know to leave me alone.  
  
I really didn't dwell on that for too long though. It really wasn't worth it as far as I was concerned. Talceryn was a bully and had gotten just what he deserved. If others thought I had go too far, then so be it. I didn't care. All I cared about right now was getting a painkiller and taking a good long shower.  
  
"Lia!" Zenith called from behind me, breaking my train of thought.  
  
I sighed, thinking that there was going to be more trouble. There always was when Zenith and I were left alone for more than a few moments. Oh why oh why can't these creeps just leave me alone for a change?! What did I do to deserve this on today of all days?  
  
Stopping, I turned and saw that the one in question was jogging down the corridor after me. He looked a bit winded, as if he had come a good distance. That really didn't surprise me. I hadn't seen him when I was dealing with Talceryn, so that meant he must have come from some other part of the base.  
  
"What is it?" I demanded as he approached me, not in the mood to be polite.  
  
Not surprisingly, Zenith didn't answer right away. He halted just a few feet away from me, taking a moment to catch his breath. Hmm, guess he must have come pretty far if he was that tired.  
  
"I.I saw what happened with you and Talceryn," he said when he was recovered enough," Did he hurt you?"  
  
A little surprised by his show of concern but still wary, I replied evenly," I think the answer to that should be obvious."  
  
"Yes. I suppose so," Zenith nodded, clearing his throat," I saw how you handled him. That was really impressive and I have to say, I've never seen anything like that before. Where did you learn how to do that?"  
  
Oh brother, is that what he wanted to know about? I should have known better than to think he was really concerned about me. All he wanted was to know about were my fighting skills. That's all guys like him are ever very worried about.  
  
"Does it matter?" I countered icily, my mood sour once again.  
  
"It is when you fight with a move that no one's ever seen before," Zenith said," Just like it always is with your fighting style. You always seem to have some new move that no one has seen before, no matter what the situation."  
  
Well, duh! Big surprise there, pal. The only place that I know of where martial arts exists is on Earth and as far as I know, I'm the only species of any Dimension X species that ever had the chance to learn about let alone see it firsthand. So yeah, I seriously doubt that anyone else here would any idea of what I'm doing.  
  
"It's just something that I learned when I was a kid," I replied," and I think that's all you really need to know. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to take a good, long rinse. All of a sudden I feel really dirty."  
  
I should have known better that it wouldn't end so easily. Zenith is stubborn, like me, and that's one reason why we're always butting heads when we're together. He always has a surprise up his sleeve and you can never quite tell what he's about to do next. Like I found out when he spoke again.  
  
"Do you.Do you think that you could teach me how to do that?" he blurted.  
  
As I said, at certain times, you could never tell what he would pull next. And when he said that, it was definitely enough to get my attention. Zenith was actually asking me, the one person he seemed to hate me more than our mutual enemy, Krang, for something? Huh, normally when he wanted something, he would just get it himself. He never depended on anyone else to help him get it, no matter what it was.  
  
"And why should I do that?" I asked," For all I know, you might use it to take advantage of others, when it's only meant to be used as a method of self defense of yourself and others."  
  
"You know that I wouldn't do anything like that," Zenith protested," I'm not like that hothead and never have been. I don't hurt my friends."  
  
"Oh, you have friends now? That's the first time I ever heard that word come out of your mouth," I snorted," Last time I checked, you didn't even have friends except for me, myself and I. Friends just slow you down, they're a liability or at least that's what you told me."  
  
I must have sounded like such an idiot when I talked like that, but to tell the truth, I really didn't care. I was so frustrated with first having to deal with Talceryn the Twit and now Zenith the Creep, the two biggest pains in my life other than Krang's forces, that I didn't feel like being nice at the moment. Especially not to my present company. All I wanted now was to get a painkiller for my intense headache and go to sleep. Anything else could wait until after I got up.  
  
"I have friends here and always have. That is why I remain here, or did you think that I did it for money?" Zenith hissed.  
  
"Actually I thought you did it for the kicks," I answered.  
  
If looks could kill, the next one that Zenith gave me would have sent me to the grave in a heartbeat. He glared down at me, snarling silently and looking as if he wanted nothing more than to bash my head in. But, probably thinking that I would do to him what I had done to Talceryn or worse, he didn't. Instead, he restrained himself and answered in a voice that briefly made me think of the first time that Raph had gotten drunk and Casey Jones had conned me into helping him track the joker down so we could bring him home.  
  
When he first approached me, I hadn't wanted to go, since I was only about thirteen at the time and wasn't that fond of wandering about above ground with just Space Case around. He may have been Raph's best friend, but I had never exactly been very comfortable around Casey and usually didn't spend that much time around him. But I was the only other person that the human knew besides Sensei who could track the Turtles just by scent and the only one who would keep my mouth shut in the process. So he eventually got me to go along with his plan, but only by saying that it was to find Raph before he hurt himself. That was the only reason I agreed to help, since I was in no mood to get caught and grounded alongside my idiot brother by Splinter.  
  
It took till two in the morning but eventually we managed to find Raph almost passed out near the old sewer den. He had drunk so much liquor that it made his breath stink completely and nearly made me gag whenever he breathed in my face. Probably the reason why I can't handle the smell of any type of alcohol now. When we first found him, Raph, more or less caught in a stupor, hadn't wanted to come with us. He wanted to stay right where he was and sleep. Well, that might have been all right if it hadn't been for the fact that this place wasn't safe for us anymore. It was still known to former Foot soldiers and there was no telling when they might come back for a shot of revenge.  
  
We tried to tell this to Raph, several times in fact, but he was just too drunk to care. So after nearly half an hour of arguing with him, we were forced to resort to other methods. Casey, speaking in the same exact tone that Zenith used with me now, apologized to Raph and with one swift punch, knocked him out cold. Then, with Casey carrying the top half and me handling the bottom one, both of which reeked, we managed to drag Raph's sorry butt home.  
  
It was just an hour or so before dawn by the time we got back. We were both sore and tired from the journey, and it was easy to tell that all both of us wanted to do was to just dump our cargo and go to sleep. As fate would have it however, Splinter, as usual, was sitting up waiting for Raphael to come home and met us on the way in. I don't think it took a genius to figure out that he wasn't happy and not just with Raph.  
  
First of all, he was upset that Raph had gone and gotten himself drunk and would be speaking with him as soon as he was sober again. Whenever that would be. But he was also upset with Casey and me. Casey for talking me into leaving the lair without permission and me for going behind his back. Oy, I can still remember that lecture. The mere thought of it still gives me headaches to this day.  
  
Which brings me back to the present. Like then, I had a headache and a bad one. Only, it wasn't from one of my Sensei's lectures. This time, it was from having to deal with two boneheads in a row and having both feeling ready to kill me.  
  
"I seek no 'kicks' for anything, Lia," Zenith hissed at me," I'm not some gutless phony like Talceryn. I believe in what we're doing here and that is the only reason other than my friends why I remain here."  
  
"Say what you want, Zenith, I really don't care. Kicks, beliefs, or friends, what you're doing here is your choice," I retorted," Just like what I do is my choice and right now, all I want is for you to take a hint and leave me alone."  
  
"Not until you've answered my question," Zenith said, his voice now a strained calm," Will you teach me or not? I won't go until you give me a straight answer, yes or no."  
  
Oy! What does it take to get rid of this guy? Hadn't I already made it plain enough that I wasn't going to teach him? Or was he just too thickheaded to know when to back off?  
  
I don't know the exact answers to any of these, though I suspected that it was a little bit of both on those last two. All I knew was that the headache I now had was growing and I was tired of arguing with him. So I was left with two choices: either do the obvious and tell him no or be civil and say yes, thus adding a new problem to my life.  
  
At first, I was leaning toward answer number one. I mean, why should I bother teaching him? It would just be a waste of both our times. I was no teacher, no sensei. I didn't know all there was to ninjitsu, especially since my own education had been cut short when I left home. All I knew was about eleven years' worth plus what I had gleaned from watching Splinter teach the Turtles. As far as I'm concerned, that wasn't enough to make me a fit teacher for anyone, let alone Zenith.  
  
Which is another reason why I shouldn't bother. Zenith is more tolerable company than some, but he's still not at the top of my list for close friendships. More like, he's toward the bottom, way above Talceryn's group but far below Kala and Reno. Since we had no close relationship, I had no ties to him other than as a fellow soldier and that meant I didn't have to do as he asked.  
  
Somehow though, that really doesn't settle well with the charitable side of me. It was the part of me that caused me to see the plight of others and want to help them. It's a side of me that makes me realize how lucky I am in being whole in both mind and body, but there are times when I find it more annoying than helpful. Now was just one such time.  
  
Whether I liked it or not, it made me consider other details before I made a final decision. Such as the fact that the reasons I had come up with weren't really good enough to refuse Zenith's request. So what if I didn't know the entirety of ninjitsu? That didn't mean I couldn't at least teach him the basics and let that be it. He just wanted to know how to do it, not make it a major part of his life like it still was with mine.  
  
So went the tug-of-war in my head. Part of me wanted to just say no and leave it at that and another part of me wanted to do the right thing and say yes. It was really confusing and starting to make my head hurt worse than it already was. When I finally did reach a decision, I just hoped that I wouldn't live to regret it.  
  
"If I do agree to teach you, then you have to promise that no matter what, you'll keep going at it. I won't waste my time teaching someone who stops just because they're tired of it," I warned.  
  
Now that was definitely scary. Those words, coming out of my mouth, and saying them to someone just as they had been to me years before when I was five. To be more precise, a certain rat speaking those words to me when I wanted to learn something. What, I don't really remember anymore. But those words had stuck in my mind like a star and had been a major guide in my life to this day. Hmm, guess there's more of the old guy sticking around in me than I thought.  
  
"Yes," Zenith said without hesitation," I give you my word. I want to learn this."  
  
Again, this was too eerie. I remember doing the exact same thing as a child, if not much of else.  
  
"All right," I said," We'll start tomorrow morning, before the next shift starts. I'm warning you though, it won't be as easy or as quick to pick this up as you think. I started learning how to do this since before I could walk and I was still learning when I left home. So there's a lot to learn."  
  
"Yes, I understand," Zenith nodded.  
  
"Good. Then I guess I'll see you tomorrow," I replied, and with that, I turned back down the hall straight for my quarters. 


	8. Zenith's Thoughts

Disclaimer: I don't own TMNT, so you can't sue me. I'm just borrowing them for a bit. But all the original creations are mine, so if you want to use them, please just ask. Thank you.  
  
Chapter 7: Zenith's thoughts  
  
I stood there for a few moments, just watching her walk away. I still couldn't believe how stubborn and infuriating she could be. All I had wanted was for her to teach me her fighting style. I had seen her use it many times in close combat and it has always amazed me how swiftly and accurate her movements come, as if it's as natural as breathing to her. As a warrior, that's something I wish to have for myself and so I thought it best to learn from the only master I knew of; Lia. But when I asked her to teach me, she acted as if I was violating something important to her.  
  
What I couldn't imagine. I mean, it's not as if I were asking her to share my bed like Talceryn had been stupid enough to do or to tell me what it had been like for her when she was hurt back in Rancor. I had asked nothing like that, so there didn't seem to be reason for her actions. But then, you can never really tell what you're going to get with Lia. She always seems to change with each situation, good or bad, and rarely the same way twice.  
  
That little spat she just had with Talceryn proved as much. He had bothered her before, mostly with insults and crude remarks. But that was only when he managed to catch up with her. Usually, Lia caught wind of Talceryn's coming long before he even showed up and was long gone by the time he did. How she does that, I'm not quite sure and I don't think Talceryn does either. Still, it's enough to keep her away from him and that much I can admire. At those times when he and his friends did manage to keep up, Lia only did one thing. She ignored them.  
  
No matter what was said to her or how harsh the insult, she just stood there and acted as if she hadn't heard them. She could keep up this up for minutes at a time, just standing there and seeming as if her mind had long since left. I have to say that it was a very strange tactic, but a successful one at that. Each time she kept it up, Talceryn would eventually grow bored when he got no response from her and at that time he would leave in a huff.  
  
Today, there had been no such luck for Lia. She never even had a chance to use her usual tactics, as Talceryn had other things on that twisted little mind of his and they didn't involve being ignored. That was something no one realized until it was almost too late, including me.  
  
I had been on the other side of the main cavern when it happened. I had already been briefed by Kale and decided to take a rest after helping Kala and Zan load some crates onto a transport before calling it a day. After a bit, we had decided to take a break and were heading for the mess hall for something to eat. As we passed by, Zan noticed a crowd of Katrians gathering near the far corner. A little curious, since the ones here are hardly ever seen in more in than pairs or trios, he stopped Kala and myself, and directed our attention toward the spectacle.  
  
At first, it was hard to make out who was who as they all had their backs to us. All that I could tell was that they were a group of Katrians like myself, males from their nearly identical heights. Except for the smallest two, these I mistook for females. That was when I realized who it was.  
  
In all of Furlough, there are a total of fourteen Katrians that make their home here; five females and nine males. Four of the females were of average Katrian height, but the fifth and newest one, Lia, was not. She was smaller than the other females by several inches and was almost the shortest non-Neutrino here. The only other exception was Creva, a reddish little piece of work that was always found in the company of Talceryn. You could spot him anywhere because of that scarlet fur of his, a rare type among us Katrians, who are usually brown, gray, black and the like.  
  
So when I saw his flash of fur in the group, I knew then that there was trouble. There always was where Talceryn and his bunch are concerned. They think that as long as they don't get caught, then they can get away with just about anything.  
  
Unless they're bothering the kids or one of the elders, I normally don't bother with them. I think it's a waste of my time to associate with this type of crowd, who remind me so much of the bullies and brigands I grew up around. So I usually keep my distance and mind my own business.  
  
But when I saw Talceryn leaning over Lia like that, acting as if he were already mated to her, something inside me snapped. I'm not entirely sure why that was. I mean, Lia and I aren't exactly very close personally, since the only real time we spend together is either on missions or work details, but I like her better than I do Talceryn. She has her own style of doing things and is extremely independent, for the most part never asking for help until it's almost too late. It's annoying when she does that sometimes but at least she can be counted on to help others when they need someone. That much can be said about her.  
  
And that might have been part of the reason why I felt the sudden urge to rip Talceryn's throat out with my bare hands. I guessed what he was trying to do now, since he had done it before and it had gotten him into a lot of trouble with the other Katrians. He was trying to get Lia, who, like every female here, had a great dislike for Talceryn, to join with him. In short, to become his mate and lover.  
  
He does that every time a new female comes along. When he finds a chance to be alone with them, he corners them and starts talking to her while his friends stand guard. He tries to convince the female that she doesn't belong on the battlefield or wherever she works and that she would do much better to wait in the bed for him, her so-called champion.  
  
So far as I can tell, he's been refused each time. Not only by the female, but also by her brother, male relative or current mate as well when they found out. When that happened, Talceryn knew that he could welcome a bit of trouble his way. Like the females, most of the males here aren't overly fond of him and want him to stay away from their mates and sisters.  
  
After he tried going after Sallow, one-eyed Pariah's younger sister, we all made this perfectly clear by threatening to go to Kale and have him removed from Furlough permanently if they heard of him pulling this again. For awhile, it seemed to keep him in line, since the latest female to come along was Lia and he hadn't done more than taunt her for the past seven months. Seeing him like this meant that he was up to his old tricks again and that Lia could be in danger.  
  
Unlike the other females, she had no male relatives to back her up if she refused the offer. She had only herself to rely on and against a group of four males, where most of whom towered over her, that wouldn't do her much good.  
  
Unless I did something. She may be a pain at times, but even Lia didn't deserve to be pressured into something by a creep like Talceryn. She had the right to choose who she allowed to be her mate and when, as do all females, and I wasn't going to let that be taken away from her.  
  
It was at about that moment that it looked like Lia had refused him and was trying to get away. Something that he didn't take too kindly to, as Talceryn grabbed her arm and they spoke for a moment, then he threw her against a wall. Seeing that, I almost dashed across the cavern then and there to do what should have been done months ago.  
  
At the same instant, I learned that there was no reason for me to bother. Lia may have been down, but she was far from out. As she demonstrated when Talceryn approached her a second time.  
  
As he leaned toward her, her fist shot out and caught him square in the face. It wasn't too hard to see that the move had caught Talceryn by surprise, since we all were. No one had ever fought back against Talceryn like that before and so at first, no one was exactly sure what Lia was doing.  
  
She didn't take the time to bother with formalities however. While Talceryn went into shock over what I now presumed to be a broken nose, Lia followed through with a quick jab in the stomach that sent him doubling over. Her final movement, one that sent Talceryn flying, went for the kill and ended the one-sided fight.  
  
Lia then made certain that Talceryn would never bother her again. Even where I was, I could hear her saying that if he came near her again, she promised that she would do far worse to him next time. That done, she withdrew, making her way through the crowd that had gathered and went on her way.  
  
That was when I went after her and what brings me to where I am now. I had watched that whole scene in a mixture of surprise and admiration. After all the times I had seen her take on Stone Warriors, it had never once occurred to me that Lia was capable of handling someone twice her size. I had always thought that her size would be a disadvantage against another Katrian. Guess I know better now, we all do. Of course, it's one of the only exact things we know about Lia.  
  
From the beginning, Lia has always been a mystery to the rest of us, especially me. She just appeared out of nowhere one day, speaking a strange language and bearing a name unlike any I had ever heard before. Even now, no one knows where she came from or who her tribe is. The only certain thing that anyone knows is that she's not from around these parts.  
  
Her true name is the first clue that she's not from any known parts of Dimension X. It's an alien name that I have never been able to pronounce, even though it's still imprinted on my mind as if I had just heard it for the first time. Magnolia, that was it. I'm not exactly sure what it means, if it even has one, but it's from this that Lia gets the name that everyone knows her by.  
  
I'm not sure if anyone else knows her real name or if it's just me she's told. If they do, no one's ever mentioned it. Can't say that I would really be able to blame them on that, since it is a very strange name. When I think about it, I sometimes wonder why in the world Lia's parents would name her something so alien and bizarre.  
  
But maybe it's a weirdness that fits Lia more than I think. I mean, she's not exactly the typical Katrian female. She's stubborn to the core, always argues with those who know better, and never asks for help when she should. Just the type of female could drive any sane male like me crazy.  
  
And yet, at the same time, it's the very thing that I find intriguing. There's so much that I don't understand about Lia. One moment, she can seem ready to obey meekly and the next, she's fighting tooth and claw to keep you away. A strange and enigmatic combination really, and one that I hope to someday solve. If she will give ever give me the chance. 


	9. Looking Back revised

Disclaimer: I don't own TMNT, so you can't sue me. I'm just borrowing them for a bit. But all the original creations are mine, so if you want to use them, please just ask. Thank you.  
  
Chapter 8: Looking back  
  
I had only one plan in mind when I returned to my quarters. First, find the strongest painkiller that I could in the stash that I kept handy and get rid of my headache. Second, take a long soak in one of the hot springs littered around Furlough. Last, go to bed and sleep for the rest of the day. Preferably all in that order.  
  
Well, at least that's the way that I would have liked it to go. The farthest I got was to my quarters, finding the painkiller, and thus getting rid of my headache. The brunt of it at least. The rest sort of just fell away somehow and I found myself sitting on my bunk trying to meditate instead.  
  
As a child, there was nothing that I hated more than meditation. It was so boring to me then. All you could do was sit in one spot for hours on end and just think. Who would want to do that when there was so many other interesting things to be done? Like, playing hide and seek or pouncing on one of my brothers when they weren't looking. That was definitely more fun than just 'reflecting on the lessons of the day' as Splinter often said.  
  
But that was what life was like. No matter how much I might have wanted it to be then, life couldn't be all fun and games. There were other things that had to be done, lessons to be learned and tasks to be mastered. Meditation just happened to be part of the package.  
  
One thing that has changed is the frequency on which I do many of those old habits. Meditating used to be a daily event for me, usually happening in early evening or late afternoon just after training. Now though, it's become more of a monthly thing. I still meditate, but only when I feel it's absolutely necessary or I do it subconsciously when I'm upset about something.  
  
Like now. Though not as bad as before, I'm still a bit tense from earlier and that's making it hard to concentrate. I keeping attempting to calm myself down and reach the point where I can reflect successively but it keeps slipping. Every time I come close to settling down the thought of what happened rises up in my mind and my aggravation just flares up again. Then I'm stuck back at square one again. And that's more or less how the last hour has been, with me attempting to meditate and continuously failing.  
  
That's right. It's been more than an hour since the incident with Talceryn and I'm still trying to sort through it all. I still can't believe that he dared to come at me like that, telling me who I should be mated to and what I should do with my life. No one's told me how to live my life, ever. Even Splinter never tried that and he was my father and Master. He may have kept me line during my early years and set rules for me to follow, but he never tried to determine my every move. Master Splinter always understood that we were each individuals and that the time would one day come when we would have to make our own choices in life. So he gave his children guidelines to follow but no set path. That was up to us to decide.  
  
Maybe in Rancor they came close to running my life but not in the sense I'm thinking of. With a place like that, they don't give you a choice in the matter. They just flat out tell you what to do and there's no argument about it. Go against what they say and you'll find yourself on the wrong end of a blaster.  
  
No, what I mean is the personal freedom that we're all born with. The right to choose what we do with our lives and how we go about getting our goals done. It's something that most take for granted, including me, until someone violates that right and we retaliate. Which is what happened today.  
  
Talceryn trespassed on my rights and I fought back. Maybe it wasn't the smartest thing to break his nose like I did, but I don't think I would go back on it if I could. From my first days in Dimension X, I had dealt with bullies like him in worse situations and sometimes the only thing that they understand is to smash something in their face.  
  
Unbidden, memories of those early days started to rise to the surface when I lost concentration again. It made me shiver to have these things in mind and I tried to force them down again. I had too much on my mind and right now these old images weren't helping. But it did me little good. My memories, stubborn as the one who carried them, refused my attempts and continued to rise.  
  
What I remember isn't pleasant and I hate it when they drift into conscious thought like this. Normally I keep these memories buried in some corner of my mind and let stand at that. Sometimes though, when my guard is down, they force their way out and I can't help but recall the disturbing images of those times and how I felt then.  
  
The foremost among these images are always the darkness and chill of the world where I woke up just after being transported. It was a deadly world that I now know is called Krystalli and it is a place where there were more cutthroats and hoods than the whole of New York combined. But back then, I knew it only it as the beginning of a living nightmare that I still want out of.  
  
It was a very confusing time for me then. I had no idea where I was or what was going on. Everything around me was strange. I was surrounded by people who hurt me and in a place where I soon found myself nearly starving on a daily basis.  
  
I cried more in those first weeks than I ever had in my life. Cried for someone to wake me up from the impossible nightmare I was in. Cried for my father and brothers to be there to help me. Cried for everything that I had walked away from and instinctively knew that I would never see again. Cried for the loneliness I was now in to come to an end. Cried for a thousand other reasons that I don't even remember now or care to.  
  
Crying was all I seemed to do then and back then, I didn't know any better about doing that. I was just too upset about losing my former life that I didn't understand that it was actually crying that was making my new life even worse than it had to be. The ones that I encountered in my early travels were not the friendliest of people and they were willing to take advantage of any weakness they found, especially if it meant something for them to gain. They saw my crying as such and thus felt that I was an easy mark. So more than once I found myself fending off someone who was either trying to steal what little that I carried or trying to get rid of what they saw as competition.  
  
This happened on a daily basis and I soon found myself hiding away from everyone else in whatever corner I could find. I knew that it was beneath me, skulking in holes from the likes of those scoundrels. I had been raised to stand up for myself and not to let others bully me. But most here were bigger than me and often traveled in groups. I was alone and puny compared to them. In a fight, I might have been able to handle one at the time if I had to. But against a larger force like the ones I was often up against, I had no choice but to run and hide, whether I liked it or not.  
  
After nearly three months of this continually happening, I finally came to a realization. All the crying in the world wasn't going to help me get home again or bring back the ones that I loved. If anything, it was only causing me more trouble than I needed. So, I made a decision that I've kept to this day.  
  
I promised myself that I wasn't going to cry anymore, no matter what. I decided that it was time that I stopped being such a baby and grow up. If I wanted to survive, then I had to be tougher than I was acting and prove that I could handle anything that came my way.  
  
So the next time that someone tried to steal from me, I was going to be ready. I would fight them if I had to and show them that regardless of size or number that I wouldn't back down from a threat. If only I had known that when the next theft did occur, that it would include none other than my newest 'student' and headache, Zenith.  
  
That's right. I first met Zenith during another robbery attempt. He wasn't the thief in question of course, but he got caught up in the action of it all. I guess you could say that he was in the wrong place in the wrong time.  
  
It all happened during my fourth month of living in Dimension X. By then, I had managed to find a way off Krystalli and was now on a world called Gidd. There were fewer problems than on Krystalli and so I didn't have to worry as much about being robbed. That didn't mean it was totally crime-free. There's no place like that except in a dream. Still, any change is better than nothing and I was willing to take any that I could find.  
  
I had been sleeping in an abandoned storeroom that I had found earlier that week. It was small, only about the size of a large closet and half cluttered with old junk that I couldn't even begin to identify. But it was dry and no one else bothered with it but me. That meant that it was safe and so I felt that I could sleep there without having to worry about being bothered.  
  
Boy was I wrong. About the fifth night I had spent in the storeroom, I had a visitor. I don't know who it was or what they were after exactly, but in the middle of the night, someone came while I slept.  
  
They snuck in through a hole in the wall, the only possible entrance to the room that wasn't locked or blocked by debris. It was just big enough for me to fit through, which meant that unless someone ripped out the wall, they would have to be my size in order to follow.  
  
That made me feel a bit safer in a way. I was small for my age and always had been. Though I had been growing in the last six months, I was still under five feet. Since most of those I had come across were usually twice my size and had to use brute force to get into enclosed areas, I wasn't really worried. Unless they were really bored, no one would waste their time trying to get to me in here.  
  
Again, there was still so much that I had to learn. Like so many other things in life, size isn't always an issue. Doesn't matter if they're bigger than me or my size, a person can turn out to be major trouble if they can find just the right time to strike.  
  
I found this out when I was grabbed in my sleep by just such a person. One hand clamped over my mouth and the other held my hands fast. Their owner then dragged me from the storeroom. It was a tight fit, as they had to first get themselves out and then pull me after them. I was struggling the entire time, which certainly didn't help my captor any. Somehow or another, they did manage the operation and I soon found myself out in the night air of Gidd.  
  
Still holding me fast, a voice that could only be male hissed in my ear," Stop squirming, whelp. You're making this harder on yourself than it has to be, whelp. Just give me what I want and I'll promise it will only hurt a day or so after I leave."  
  
I had no idea what he wanted or why, but I certainly knew that I wasn't going to give him anything. So I continued to struggle, increasing my efforts with every ounce of strength that I could muster. It wasn't an easy task though, since my attacker may have been my size but he was stronger and was refusing to budge.  
  
Still, if there's one thing that I will admit about myself it's that I'm stubborn and once I set my mind to something I won't stop until I'm done. So while I was held, I squirmed and struggled intensely, silently praying that it would be enough. As a side effort, I kicked backward when I could, hoping to hit something.  
  
One kick proved to be true. The claws on my feet, unsheathed and sharper than those on my hands, had managed to slice into the skin of attacker's leg. I don't know how deep they went, but it was enough.  
  
I heard an instant yowl of surprise and pain from behind. The hand, which I could now see was a scaled gray-blue, loosened its grip and was lowered ever so slightly. This was all that I needed.  
  
It wasn't much, but there was enough room for me to maneuver my mouth over a thumb. Biting down as hard as I could, I sank my teeth into it. Like any cat, my teeth are sharp and made for the art of biting and tearing. An act such as this one and for which I received immediate reward.  
  
The grip that held me disappeared entirely and with it my own. My teeth, now filling my mouth with a foul taste of scale and blood, came loose as I was thrown aside by my former captor. I'm guessing that I flew a half a dozen feet or more, since I remember passing by the wall of my storeroom hideout. It's not for certain, but I know that I landed near there.  
  
To be more precise, I landed on someone near there. Unnoticed by either myself or my attacker, someone else had been passing by while we fought. They may or may not have noticed us either, I don't know. I can only say that they were certainly surprised when I was dropped onto them. I know that I was.  
  
We both landed in a heap, with me on top and the stranger on the bottom. I can't speak for the latter, but I know that the wind was definitely knocked out of me. For a few seconds, we just stayed there, trying to collect our wits.  
  
Behind us, I could hear the unmistakable sound of metal being unsheathed. Instinctively, I knew that could only mean a blade, large or small, was about to be aimed at me. In a rush of movement, I acted.  
  
Pushing away from the stranger, I leapt forward again, hissing and snarling as I went. Startled by my actions, what was a vaguely lizard- shaped shadow stopped and backed away a few paces. They stared at me from the darkness, blade drawn. I snarled again, still crouched on all fours and settled into an old battle stance I hadn't used in months.  
  
"Still want to try?" I hissed.  
  
Now if there's one thing that I know, it's that all bullies are really cowards at heart and often run at the first sign of retaliation. When I snarled again and flexed my claws, the shadow seemed to think better about attacking me again. His blade, what I can now see as a dagger-size, gleamed in the little bit of moonlight that had seeped through the clouds overhead, swaying experimentally, while he stood there, debating whether or not to lunge at me.  
  
I remained where I was, tense and ready to strike back if I had to. There was no way I was about to back down now. Not after this. I would keep my promise to myself, no matter what happened. It turned out to be unnecessary. Probably having a fill of me already, the shadow withdrew. I think he glared at me and held his dagger in warning before leaving, but that was it.  
  
I stayed where I was for a few seconds more, just to be sure that he was gone. No sense in letting my guard down just because he had given up. When I was certain he was gone, I relaxed a little bit and stood up again. A sound behind me drew my attention and I turned to see what it was.  
  
I saw that the one I had fallen into was now rising as well. Their back was to me at first, so I wasn't exactly sure what they were. They were brushing off and seemed to be ignoring me for the moment. I waited, thinking it better to let them be instead of interrupting or offering to help. Some people were known to be touchy when I did that so I had learned that sometimes it was better to just keep my distance.  
  
When they, or he rather as I soon learned, finally turned around, I found myself staring into two sets of blue-green fire. The flame was lodged in the eyes of a Katrian male who couldn't have been much older than me. He was possibly the one creature that I had ever met who looked more torn and skinnier than I was. His fur, a coal black covered in grime and muck, was a tangled mess that not even an industrial strength comb and shampoo set could ever hope to unravel. Clothing was only a tattered vest and pants that were as dirty as their owner. It was hard to tell just what color they had once been but at this point, they were almost the same shade as he was.  
  
It was really a surprise for me to see him at all. Except for myself, Katrians weren't known to frequent the backwater worlds. They were rare and private creatures who kept to other places, only spotted occasionally among war parties or as mercenaries.  
  
I had only recently learned what I was by then. For the first fourteen years of my life, I had thought that I was a mutant. That was because all my adopted family were mutants. When they found me, they could only assume that I was one as well and that was how they raised me.  
  
It was also the reason why I first ran away from home. When I was younger, I readily agreed with what everyone said. I truly believed that I was a mutant. What reason did I have to believe that I wasn't? My family was, so that meant that I as too. But as I grew older, a feeling of doubt begin to creep over me.  
  
I began to feel as if there was something wrong about that idea. It felt as if I were something else, only I didn't know what. So I questioned those around me, trying to find answers to the questions raging inside of me. Unfortunately, there were none.  
  
No one had the answers that I sought. They could only give me speculations and things that I already knew. It was very frustrating for me and over time, this built up. Finally, it came to a point where I was lashing out at everyone and ended up fighting with the one person who could've helped me if I had let him: Splinter. The argument was one of the worst that I've ever gone through. I know that we both said things that we didn't mean and more than anything, I wish there was a way to take them back. But then, I didn't care. All that mattered to me then was finding the answers to my questions. Anything else could just take second string as far as I was concerned, even my family.  
  
It was after that I left home. I left a note in my room, taking with me what few things that I felt I would need and snuck out during the night when everyone was busy. Then, I had no intention of ever returning. Not until I found what I was looking for, even if that took me a lifetime.  
  
My journey took a dramatic twist when it was only a few hours old. On the surface, far from any known aid, the Foot ambushed me. They hadn't been much trouble for us in the last year but there were still rumors that they were still around and looking for a chance at the Turtles and their allies. So finding me, the Turtles' little sister alone and supposedly vulnerable, could have been nothing short of a miracle to them. If only they would learn that not being a Turtle didn't mean I was unable to fight back.  
  
And fight back I did. There were maybe about six of them, more than I could really handle on my own. But not too many that I couldn't at least take down a few before they finally got me.  
  
I don't know how long we fought. That information was and is forever beyond me. Then it felt like an eternity, though it could have only been a few moments to an hour. I don't know. I just know that it was during this fight that I was started on a path that leads to where what I have now become.  
  
The battle had been going badly for me from the start. Though I had managed to knock out at least one of my opponents and sent the others back a few paces, they were still coming. As soon as I knocked them down, they were back on their feet again, pressing the attack.  
  
Soon things were taking their toll on me. I wasn't used to fighting so many at once and it was very confusing to have to divide my attention in several directions at once. I was constantly getting knocked around and each new blow seemed to increase what I'd already received.  
  
Other problems began while I dealt with what I already had. It was nothing at first. Just a small pinpoint in the air that just appeared and which steadily grew. None of us noticed it at first. We were too caught up in the battle to bother. It was only after it grew to the size of a large dog and flared violently that we took notice.  
  
For a moment, we all stopped and watched as what we now saw was a light continued to grow. It was no single color, but several at once and then none at all. I say it like this because it was constantly changing. When it seemed like it was green, it would turn blue and when it seemed blue, it was black.  
  
Whatever the color, both I and the Foot soldiers could sense that it was strange. There didn't seem to be any logical reason for it existing. But it did and there was no changing that.  
  
The strangest thing, at least for me, was how looking at this light made me feel. Something instinctive drew me toward it and that feeling urged me to flee toward it. Desperate as I was for an escape, part of me resisted that idea. It wanted me to stand and fight, to stand my ground, as I knew that my brothers would. I sometimes wonder what would have happened if I had listened to that side of me. If maybe, I could have gotten away from that fight and back to the others again. Or if I would have lost and been captured, possibly used as bait to lure the Turtles into a fight then later killed.  
  
I wonder all of this but it's one of those things that I'll never know. For once, I followed my instincts and while everyone else was staring at it, I ran toward the light. When they saw what I was doing, the braver of my attackers tried to follow me while their fellows fled. That only lasted a few seconds. For once I was close enough, the light enveloped me and I knew nothing else until I awoke on Krystalli, with only the tattered remains of my bag at my side.  
  
In the months that followed, in the midst of surviving and running, I tried to find that light again. I knew that if I could, then there was a good chance that I could get back to Earth again. The only problem was, I had no idea what had caused it to begin with or where I could find the means to do so even if I did. No one I talked to ever said that they had seen anything like that before let alone heard about it.  
  
Finally, I had given up searching on Krystalli and taken to looking on other worlds. It was always possible that if the people in one place didn't know something, there was a good chance that others in a separate location might. So, after stowing away on the first freighter I could find, I was off and gone until I reached Gidd and my present troubles.  
  
I stared at the young male with uncertainty. He was still breathing heavily and shooting daggers in my direction with each blink. Neither one of us spoke for a moment and I was desperately hoping that he would be the first to speak and not me. I've never liked starting a conversation and in this case, it could mean either the start of another fight or a possible resolution.  
  
See when I was growing up, I never talked verbally like those around me. I used my hands instead. Using a complex language of signs and gestures developed over many years, I used this to tell others what I wanted them to know. It wasn't easy for just anyone to understand and only Splinter and the Turtles, who had been around since I first started using my gestures, ever really understood it completely. There were many times when they had to be called when Casey or April needed a translation.  
  
I suppose one might find it strange that I never talked as a child since I do all the time now. Well, maybe it is to some but not to me. Back then, I could understand and maybe even speak the words of my family and friends if I wanted. I can now, since sometimes I still curse in both Japanese and English without thinking about it. But I never did when I was on Earth.  
  
There were two simple reasons for this. One, I just didn't want to talk and two, I was obeying my Sensei's teachings to a level he never thought I would take it to. They both sound stupid I know, but these are the reasons behind a silence that I held for the first fourteen years of my life.  
  
If I go deeper into this, I suppose even I would have to admit to not knowing why I didn't want to talk as a child. Maybe I just didn't have anything to say or I could have been taking Splinter's teachings on ninja silence a bit too literally.  
  
Which explains my second reason. For as long as I could remember, I was always taught that silence and stealth were key to being a ninja. If I wanted to be a warrior and go unseen by my enemies, I had to develop these skills to the fullest. I did that, though maybe not the way that anyone would have expected.  
  
Coming to Dimension X meant not only did I have to learn what language to speak all over again but that I had to do it fast and several times over. With so many people roaming around the galaxy, languages get mixed more than once and sometimes it's hard to tell just what word can mean from one to the next.  
  
Most of it I picked up pretty much the same way I learned things at home; I watched and I listened. Nothing else to it. I sat there, listening to the conversations and brawls around me, piecing each word together until I finally got a rudimentary of what they meant. When I could understand enough, I then worked on saying them myself and using them in what had become my day-to-day life. Those that I talked with understood what I was saying for the most part and usually answered me in terms I could figure out. Those that didn't answer did one of two things. They either ignored me or tried to punched me. I preferred it when they did the former and learned quick to duck when they did the latter.  
  
So when I tried to speak with Zenith, I knew that I had to be careful what I said. I was still trying to get the hang of certain things and I wasn't sure whether or not he understood this universe's equivalent of a common language. Lucky for me, he did. For the most part anyhow.  
  
"Scum-brain," he muttered as he brushed himself off.  
  
To my relief, it was the common tongue. Something that I knew better than any other language here. Which meant that I wouldn't have much trouble talking to him after all.  
  
"I am sorry," I said slowly.  
  
"Sorry?" he snarled," You're sorry for knocking me into the dirt and making me drop my food? You're just sorry?"  
  
He gestured toward the ground in emphasis. It was really too dark to see what was there, but if I squinted hard enough, I could just make out shapes. There were lumps littering the ground that could have well been his food.  
  
"I didn't mean to," I said," Someone attacked me. I can't help that."  
  
"Maybe," the male snorted," But you still could have been more careful. I spent all day looking for that food and now it's ruined, all thanks to you."  
  
It took a few seconds for all this to sink in. What was this guy's problem? I mean, I could understand why he would be upset. I knew what it was like trying to find enough to eat. There was hardly any on a backwater world like Gidd and anything you found could be the deciding factor between life and death.  
  
So I could see why he was upset about his food being somewhat spoiled now. That still didn't give him the right to act like I had meant to do it on purpose. I had told him that I was sorry and it wasn't like I knew that he was going to be there. It's not my fault he was passing by when this happened.  
  
Still, I wasn't about to tell him all this. I had enough problems without him and I didn't want to add another enemy to the list that I already had. So, for the moment, I was willing just to let him rant and just smile so he would hopefully calm down.  
  
"Yes. I am sorry for that. Didn't mean to get you drawn in," I nodded.  
  
"Well, you did," he retorted, glaring at me," Just who are you anyway? I've never seen you around here before."  
  
"Magnolia," I had answered," My name Magnolia. Who you?"  
  
He fell silent after I spoke, looking at me in what can only be described as wariness and speculation. I can easily see why he was like this and it didn't take me long to figure out what he was thinking. He was probably wondering if I was playing a joke on him with my name. Well, he wasn't the first to think so.  
  
"It's not your business but I'm Zenith," he answered finally," And what in the world did you say your name was?"  
  
"Magnolia," I repeated," My name Magnolia. Called Maggie too."  
  
"Ma-gi? Mag. Mag-noo?" Zenith tried to copy," How is anyone supposed to pronounce something that weird?"  
  
I sighed, seeing no reason to keep this up. It wasn't the first time that someone here had tried saying my Earth name and ended up failing miserably. So I was stuck using the alternative that had slowly but surely become my identity in the minds of those that I encountered in this universe.  
  
"Call me Lia," I corrected," Lia is also my name."  
  
This I knew that Zenith would be able to pronounce. At this point, all the other inhabitants had been able to, which meant he should be able to as well. I'd probably end up kicking him if he couldn't.  
  
"Well Lia or whatever your name is," Zenith spat acidly," I've got only one thing to say to you about what happened."  
  
"What?" I asked.  
  
"You cost me a lot of trouble and I won't forgive that. I have enough problems without some scrawny little furball giving me more. So if you ever come near me again, I swear that I'll kill you, Lia," he swore.  
  
Taken aback by his words, I protested," I said that I was sorry. You don't have to act like that."  
  
Zenith only scowled at me, baring his teeth a little. I wasn't impressed with his attitude nor was I stupid about it. From years of living with a hothead like Raph, I knew when someone was just nearing their breaking point.  
  
"I can help you find more food," I suggested," Would that help?"  
  
Snorting, Zenith sneered," Are you serious? You actually expect me to believe that you want to help me. How gullible do you think I am?"  
  
"It's the truth," I insisted," I will help you."  
  
"No," Zenith said flatly," Even if you owe it to me, I don't want your help. You'll just get in the way."  
  
"What do you mean?" I asked.  
  
"Being around others is a liability. It slows you down. The only one you can depend on is yourself," he snarled," Now get away from me or I'll kill you now instead of later."  
  
His eyes shined fiercely as he glared at me, the promise of his words in them. I glared back, a bit unsettled by what he said but refusing to back down. Our eyes remained locked that way for a few seconds, and then, like a shadow, he was gone. Disappeared into the night and to who knows where.  
  
I stood there for a long time after he was gone. It was only the second time that I had ever met another Katrian and both times it had been very unsettling. The first had been a female whose name I never knew and who had been dying when we met. Someone had attacked and stabbed her at some point and then dumped her in a junkyard after what I could only assume was torture.  
  
I say this because the poor creature was insane by the time I came across her. Not only from the pain, but from the things that had been done to her by her attackers. I never knew the exact details and I don't think that I want to. Just looking at her wounds was enough to ward me off of that subject.  
  
Not that I think she would have answered if I asked. She was too delirious and sick with fever by then. The only thing that came out of her mouth besides cries of pain were strange babblings that only she could understand.  
  
When I found her, I was moved by pity for another worse off than myself and so tried to help her. I soon found it a lost cause. Every time I or anyone else attempted to come near her, the Katrian would lash out with weak but deadly accuracy, snarling and spitting incoherent warnings. The only thing that could be done was to watch her waste away until she finally died, leaving only a broken shell of a body behind.  
  
It still makes me shiver when I think about her. That poor creature had been a lot like me, alone and forgotten in a world where no one seemed to care whether you lived or died. I had tried to move her to somewhere more comfortable while she was still alive but I didn't make it very far with that idea. She was so deep in her delirium that any attempts to move her were met with hostile retaliation. So I could only stand by and watch as her life finally seeped away.  
  
This second time had gone no better. Not only had I caused trouble for a fellow Katrian but I had made an enemy of him as well. It made me wonder if I would ever get on the good side of another Katrian. At the rate I was going, I seriously doubted it.  
  
It was soon after I parted ways with Zenith I was captured and taken to Rancor for the first time. It was there that I truly had to fight for my survival, since everyone there really is out to kill everyone else. Meaning that like everything else I'd dealt with up to that point, even one mistake could be lethal. And it was there that I remained for more than a year until my subsequent rescue by Kale, Zenith and the others.  
  
So that's about everything in a nutshell. By my calculations, I'm almost seventeen and that means that I've been in this godforsaken war zone nearly three years. The first seven months spent trying to find my footing and learning about where I been brought to. The next fifteen months being captured and sent to a penal colony where I was expected to rot for the rest of my life. And the last seven months of this ordeal being rescued and assimilated into a band of rebels that can sometimes be more trouble than it's worth. Today as an example of such. Yeah, that's just about the whole story.  
  
Oh man. If there is such a thing as reincarnation or an afterlife, I'm seriously hoping that it's better than this. I could definitely use a change from the one that I'm living now. 


	10. What now?

Disclaimer: I don't own TMNT, so you can't sue me. I'm just borrowing them for a bit. But all the original creations are mine, so if you want to use them, please just ask. Thank you.  
  
(Author's note: okay, this isn't much of a chapter I know. Again, it's more of an interlude but it will have to do. More will be coming soon, I promise. :P )  
  
Chapter 9: What now?  
  
My memories finally seeped to a trickle and eventually disappeared into the depths of my subconscious again. I can't say that I was sorry for them to go. It was always hard for me to remember those times and after what had happened earlier, they stung worse than usual.  
  
That's only natural I suppose. When someone experiences one unpleasantry after another, they normally don't have much room for anything else. And that was the way that I was feeling right now. Full of one thing and with no room for anything else.  
  
For a moment, I just sat there on my bunk, trying to decide what I should do next. It was obvious that meditating was out, since every attempt that I made only got me more frustrated. And I certainly didn't feel like socializing with anyone at he moment, so that was a bust too. Which left me with three options.  
  
One, I could just sit here and do nothing. I mean, unless something came up or I was sent for personally, I didn't have anything to do. The next four days were mine to do with as I pleased and that included just sitting around doing nothing.  
  
If I didn't do that, then I could always practice some katas. That sometimes helped me to unwind but not often. Still, it might be worth a shot. Then again, I really didn't feel like moving around at the moment, so maybe not.  
  
Which left me with option number three. I could just stay where I was and go to sleep. I wouldn't have to do anything, be bothered by anyone or have to worry about anything for awhile. Just the thing that I wanted right. So sleep it was.  
  
I couldn't have made that decision with better timing. Exhaustion was already taking a hold of me and for once, I didn't resist the feeling. I went right along with it. As a result, I soon found myself laying back and falling deep into the welcomed abyss of slumber. 


End file.
